FORGING  THE   SWORD 


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CAMP   DEVENS,   FROM   OVER   THE   BASE   HOSPITAL 


FORGING  THE  SWORD 

THE  STORY  OF  CAMP  DEVENS 

New  England's  Army  Cantonment 


By 
William  J.  Robinson 

Author  of  "Fourteen  Months  at  the  Front  "  and  Boston  Globe 
Correspondent  at  Camp  Devens 


Price  ^3.00 


Copyright,  1920 

BY 

William  J.  Robinson 


THE  RUMFORD  PRESS 
CONCORD,  N.  H. 


->  -->■  cj  o  / 


TO 

THE  AMERICAN   LEGION 

AMONG  WHOSE  MEMBERS  ARE  THOUSANDS  WHO  FIRST  DONNED 
THE  UNIFORM  AT  CAMP  DEVENS,  AND  WHO,  WHETHER  THEY 
"got  across"  OR  NOT,  PLAYED  THE  GAME  LIKE  TWO-FISTED 
FIGHTING  MEN,  THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED  WITH  ADMIRATION 
AND   RESPECT. 


FOREWORD 

By 

Major  General  Henry  P.  McCain,  U.  S.  A. 

Commander  of  the  Plymouth  {12th)  Division  and  later  cantonment 
commander  at  Camp  Devens 

Camp  Devens  is  the  only  national  encampment  in  New 
England.  The  work  done  there  in  preparation  for  the  World 
War  measured  fully  up  to  the  country's  expectations.  Every 
New  Englander  and  every  man  who  served  at  Camp  Devens 
will  be  interested  in  an  account  of  its  activities. 

"Forging  the  Sword"  gives  in  chronological  order,  from  the 
arrival  of  the  first  man  at  Camp  Devens  to  the  demobilization 
of  the  26th  Division,  a  full  account  of  how  New  England's  man- 
power was  assembled,  equipped,  trained,  and  thousands  sent 
across  to  fight.  The  author,  Mr.  William  J.  Robinson,  corre- 
spondent of  the  Boston  Globe,  is  equipped  by  nature  and  by 
experience  to  undertake  this  important  work. 

He  lived  in  the  cantonment  for  more  than  a  year.     He  did 

not  simply  exist  there.     He  was  always  on  the  job  regardless 

of  weather  or  other  conditions.     He  had  access  to  all  places 

and  to  all  formations,  and  he  saw  the  troops  being  equipped,  he 

saw  them  in  training,  and  he  saw  them  during  the  distressing 

epidemic  of  influenza.     He  knew  the  officers  and  thousands  of 

the  enlisted  men,  and  associated  daily  and  freely  with  them,  on 

and  off  duty.     He  was  liked  by  them  and  had  their  confidence. 

What  he  has  written  can  be  relied  upon  as  the  true  story  of 

Camp  Devens.     I  am  pleased  to  comm.end  his  story  of  how  the 

sword  of  New  England  was  forged  to  all  who  are  interested  in 

Camp  Devens  and  to  all  who  are  justly  proud  of  the  part 

played  by  New  England  in  the  great  war. 

H.  P.  McCain, 

„  .  Major-General,  U.  S.  A. 

December  i,  1919. 


PREFACE 

A  SUGGESTION  IS  really  a  germ.  A  request  might  be  called  a 
germ  grown  up.  And  an  order — ^well,  everybody  who  has 
been  in  the  army  knows  what  an  order  is! 

Now  there  are  without  doubt  many  better  qualified  to  turn 
out  a  history  of  Camp  Devens  than  the  writer  of  this  volume, 
and  for  that  among  other  reasons  it  is  hoped  that  this  book  will 
not  be  considered  a  history  by  prospective  readers  of  its  pages. 
If  they  start  with  the  idea  of  reading  a  history,  they  will  be 
disillusioned  before  they  get  very  far.  But  the  idea  of  a 
"story"  of  Devens  has  been  suggested,  requested  and  "or- 
dered"— all  three,  and  the  compliance  of  the  writer  will  be 
found  on  the  pages  following. 

As  a  story  containing  most  of  the  high  lights  of  the  activities 
at  Camp  Devens  it  is  the  honest  belief  of  the  writer  that  it  will 
be  found  sufficiently  accurate.  That  many,  many  details  have 
been  necessarily  omitted  is  granted.  It  pretends  to  be  a  gen- 
eral story  of  what  happened  at  New  England's  cantonment 
during  the  World  War,  garnished  with  lighter  details  here  and 
there  to  give  courage  to  any  disinterested  reader  into  whose 
hands  it  may  fall;  that  and  nothing  more.  As  such  it  is 
offered  to  those  who  are  interested. 

If  any  credit  is  to  be  given  for  the  publication  of  the  story 
here  described,  the  major  share  of  it  belongs  to  the  Boston 
Globe.  That  newspaper  published  more  news  of  New  England 
troops  during  the  World  War  than  any  other  Boston  daily,  and 
carried  in  its  columns  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  million  words 
of  news  regarding  the  troops  at  Camp  Devens  alone. 

The  Globe  was  also  the  only  New  England  newspaper  to 
have  a  staff  correspondent  accredited  to  the  first  New  England 
division  overseas.  A  Globe  staff  correspondent  was  kept  at 
Camp  Devens  from  the  time  the  first  National  Army  recruit 


X  PREFACE 

arrived  there  on  September  5,  1917,  until  July  5,  1919,  when 
practically  all  of  the  New  England  men  returning  to  civilian 
life  through  Camp  Devens  had  been  discharged. 

Much  credit  is  also  due  Mr.  Laurence  L.  Winship  of  the 
Globe  staff,  who  was  the  first  representative  of  that  paper  to 
be  stationed  at  Camp  Devens,  and  who  "covered"  the  76th 
Division  during  the  major  part  of  its  training  there.  The 
greater  portion  of  the  facts  pertaining  to  the  76th  Division 
contained  in  this  volume  were  gathered  by  Mr.  Winship. 

Thanks  are  due  the  military  authorities  at  Camp  Devens  for 
their  extreme  kindness  and  great  assistance  in  providing 
ofBcial  data  of  varied  nature,  and  to  Major-General  Henry  P. 
McCain,  Captain  R.  G.  Sherman,  Camp  Adjutant,  and  other 
members  of  the  Headquarters  Stafif  in  particular,  for  their  en- 
couragement and  help. 

To  George  H.  Davis,  Jr., Leonard  Small  and  Arnold  Belcher, 
Globe  stafT  photographers;  to  the  Globe  itself  and  to  Captain 
Livingston  Swentzel,  U.  S.  Signal  Corps,  are  due  credit  for  the 
great  majority  of  the  illustrations. 

The  writer  only  asks  that  this  story  be  accepted  as  an  honest 
effort  to  record,  for  the  benefit  of  those  interested,  some  of  the 
most  important  facts  and  events  concerning  New  England's 
greatest  war  camp. 

W.J.R. 


CONTENTS 

Foreword  by  Major  General  H.  P.  McCain vii 

Preface ix 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    The  Campsite  in  the  Wilderness i 

II.    Astonishing  Construction  and  First  Arrivals      .     .  7 

III.  How  the  Draft  Worked 15 

IV.  The  76TH  Division  Is  Organized 24 

V.     "In  the  Army  Now" 32 

VI.    The  First  Forty  Per  Cent 45 

VII.    Training  Begins 54 

VIII.    The  Secretary  of  War  Comes  to  Camp       ....  63 

IX.    Off  Duty  and  On 72 

X.    The  76TH  Stands  Inspection 80 

XI.    Christmas  and  Progress 90 

XII.    Finishing  Touches 99 

XIII.  Bon  Voyage 108 

XIV.  General  McCain  and  the  i2th  Division      .     .     .     .  115 
XV.     In  the  Grip  of  the  Flu 128 

XVI.    The  i2TH  Division  Breaks  Some  Records    ....  139 

XVII.    The  Beginning  of  the  End 147 

XVIII.     "Mopping  Up" 154 

XIX.    The  Arrival  of  the  Y-D 160 

XX.     "Apres  la  Guerre" 165 


FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Chapter  I 
THE    CAMPSITE    IN    THE   WILDERNESS 

One  spring  day  in  191 7,  a  group  of  army  officers,  together 
with  a  few  civihans,  drove  by  automobile  from  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  Northeastern  Department  in  Boston  to  the  little 
railroad  town  of  Ayer,  Massachusetts.  Their  cars  continued 
through  the  town  almost  to  the  Shirley  line  where  the  Mohawk 
Trail  crosses  the  Nashua  River. 

There  the  cars  stopped  and  the  party  alighted.  They 
climbed  to  the  brow  of  a  steep  hill  just  off  the  main  road,  at  the 
top  of  which  was  located  a  dancing  pavilion.  Evidently  it  was 
the  spot  they  were  seeking,  for  there  they  stood  for  some  time, 
pointing  off  into  the  distance,  asking  questions  of  some  of  the 
civilians  and  making  notes.  One  of  the  officers  seemed  to 
command  the  respect  and  deference  of  the  other  officers  in  the 
party.  He  was  Major-General  Clarence  R.  Edwards,  recently 
come  to  New  England  to  take  command  of  the  Northeastern 
Department. 

For  some  time  these  people  tramped  about  a  trackless  waste 
of  sandy  land,  profusely  covered  with  scrubby  trees  and 
bushes.  Finally  they  entered  their  automobiles  again  and 
drove  away. 

Shortly  after  he  returned  to  Boston  General  Edwards  sent  a 
lengthy  and  detailed  report  with  recommendations  to  the  War 
Department  in  Washington,  and  soon  there  came  an  announce- 
ment from  Washington  to  the  effect  that  a  military  cantonment 
for  the  district  of  New  England  would  be  built  at  Ayer,  and  in 
that  cantonment  would  be  trained  the  men  of  New  England 
and  northern  New  York  State  who  were  selected  by  the  Gov- 


2  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

ernment  to  serve  in  the  army  we  were  about  to  raise  to  throw 
into  the  World  War. 

Thus  was  the  site  for  New  England's  National  Army  can- 
tonment selected,  quickly,  quietly  and  without  any  pomp  or 
ceremony.  For  speed  was  a  vital  factor  in  the  raising  of  our 
armies,  and  the  more  quietly  it  was  done  the  more  quickly 
would  results  be  realized.  New  England  didn't  pay  a  great 
deal  of  attention  to  Camp  Devens  at  first.  Afterwards  the 
camp  became  the  hub  of  our  own  particular  little  universe. 
Scarce  a  family  in  the  six  New  England  States  that  didn't  have 
some  relative  or  friend  at  Devens.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find 
a  person  in  these  Northeastern  States  who  was  not  in  some  way 
interested  in  it.  We  flocked  to  the  camp  in  person  on  Sundays 
and  holidays,  by  the  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands. 
We  looked  longingly  for  letters  from  Devens.  Every  time 
the  telephone  rang  there  was  the  possibility  that  it  might  be 
Devens  on  the  line,  and  every  telegraph  boy  might  bear  a 
message  from  this  city  which  grew  up  almost  over  night. 

But  just  at  the  very  first  our  thoughts  were  elsewhere. 
Things  were  happening  so  fast,  event  following  event  with  such 
rapidity,  and  each  stirring  us  so  deeply  that  a  mere  feat  of 
building  construction  passed  almost  unnoticed.  Our  hearts 
were  pretty  full  during  those  summer  days  of  191 7.  Registra- 
tion day,  June  5,  when  10,000,000  of  our  young  men  were  listed 
for  service  in  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States,  brought 
the  war  up  to  our  front  doorstep,  but  with  our  boys  still  at  home 
and  no  date  set  as  to  when  they  would  be  called  away,  our 
eyes  were  still  fixed  on  the  shores  of  Europe. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  safe  to  say  that  the  war  really  began  for 
us  when  "Black  Jack"  Pershing  landed  in  Europe.  Then  it 
was  that  we  began  to  realize  that  our  sons  were  soon  to  go 
forth  to  battle.  Pershing  was  to  be  their  commander-in-chief, 
and  he  was  at  last  "over  there." 

Then  came  July  4.  No  single  event  during  our  first  six 
months  of  participation  in  the  war  so  stirred  us  as  did  the  re- 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  3 

ception  accorded  the  first  of  our  troops  to  reach  Paris.  There 
was  but  a  single  battalion  of  them,  slightly  more  than  1,000 
Yankee  soldiers.  But  when  we  read  of  their  arrival  and  of 
how  thousands  of  little  war  orphans  bent  their  chubby  knees 
and  bowed  their  little  heads  as  our  Star  Spangled  Banner  was 
carried  through  the  Paris  streets  by  this  little  band  of  Yankees, 
our  hearts  began  to  burn  with  that  pride  of  country  which 
proved  to  be  one  of  our  greatest  assets  during  the  conflict. 
Our  sons  began  to  talk  of  "when  we  get  over  there,"  and  we 
knew  that  the  time  was  approaching. 

Every  country  in  the  world,  especially  those  which  were 
allied  against  Germany,  marveled  at  the  manner  in  which  we 
decided  to  raise  our  armies.  France,  of  course,  had  compul- 
sory military  service  before  the  war,  but  she  was  amazed  that 
America  should  start  immediately  with  a  form  of  conscription. 
England  didn't  resort  to  conscription  until  she  had  been  fight- 
ing nearly  two  years.  And  here  was  a  vast  country  of  more 
than  100,000,000  people  whose  historical  associations  and 
political  traditions  emphasized  the  liberty  of  individual  choice 
even  in  war,  adopting  at  the  outset  a  form  of  compulsory 
military  service.  It  was  astonishing!  They  were  at  a  loss 
to  understand  it — then. 

And  right  here  the  writer  desires  to  take  issue  with  those  who 
term  our  manner  in  raising  our  armies  "conscription."  Per- 
haps it  was  just  that  in  the  strict  grammatical  sense  of  the 
word,  but  it  was  not  so  in  spirit.  It  was  "Selective  Service, " 
the  fairest  and  most  sensible  manner  of  raising  an  army.  And 
while  the  service  demanded  was  compulsory  in  a  manner,  the 
men  who  were  selected  for  service  in  the  National  Army  were 
not  "conscripts"  in  the  popular  sense  of  the  word. 

For  no  men  ever  made  better  soldiers  than  did  these  sons  of 
ours  who  were  content  to  present  themselves  to  Uncle  Sam  and 
say:  "Here  I  am;  you  know  where  I  can  best  be  of  service. 
Put  me  there.  Teach  me  what  you  want  me  to  do,  and  I'll  do 
it  as  best  I  can. ' '     These  men  came  willingly  and  gladly.     Our 


4  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Government  declared  that  this  was  the  most  effective  way  of 
raising  a  vast  fighting  machine,  and  the  men  who  went  into 
the  service  under  the  Selective  Service  Act  were  obeying  the 
best  judgment  of  the  powers  in  Washington. 

The  soldier  who  stands  up  today  and  throws  out  his  chest 
and  voice  in  the  boast  that  he  was  a  volunteer  makes  a  fool  of 
himself,  and  it  will  be  noticed  that  few  of  our  New  England 
soldiers  do  it.  Those  who  went  across  with  the  26th  Division 
and  were  consequently  in  France  months  ahead  of  the  New 
England  National  Army  men  were  fortunate  indeed,  but  there 
were  hundreds  of  other  National  Guard  men — (many  of  the  1st 
Maine  Heavies,  for  instance) — who  were  left  behind  and  did 
not  get  across  until  after  the  National  Army  men.  They  were 
the  unfortunate  ones.  And  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  American 
Legion,  that  magnificent  organization  of  the  men  who  fought 
their  country's  battles  and  returned  home  safely,  does  not  dis- 
criminate between  the  National  Army  man  and  the  National 
Guard  man  and  the  Regular.  Each  did  his  best  according  to 
his  qualifications  and  the  orders  of  our  Government,  and  it  was 
because  of  this  that  the  War  Department  eliminated  all  dis- 
tinction between  the  three  classes. 

New  England  really  had  the  war  brought  home  to  her  on 
July  9,  when  President  Wilson  issued  a  proclamation  calling 
the  entire  National  Guard  of  the  United  States  to  the  colors. 
That  meant  separation  from  some  of  our  own,  but  after  all  it 
was  only  a  comparative  few.  Those  people  who  had  dear  ones 
in  the  National  Guard  felt  the  cold  clutch  of  War's  hand  on 
their  hearts,  but  for  the  rest  of  New  England  there  was  still 
nothing  but  uncertainty. 

It  was  not  until  July  13,  when  official  announcement  was 
made  from  Washington  that  the  War  Department  wanted 
687,000  men  in  the  first  draft  from  the  10,000,000  between  21 
and  31  years  of  age  who  registered  under  the  Selective  Service 
Act  on  June  5,  and  that  as  many  men  as  was  necessary  to  pro- 
duce this  687,000  would  be  called,  that  New  Englanders  gen- 
erally felt  the  first  horror  of  the  war  upon  them. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  5 

For  no  family  with  a  man  between  21  and  31  in  it  knew 
whether  they  would  be  called  upon  to  send  one  of  their  dear 
ones  or  not.  It  was  the  element  of  uncertainty  that  made  it  so 
hard.  But  the  men  themselves  were  ready.  They  had  given 
their  local  draft  boards  the  necessary  data  from  which  to  reach 
a  decision  as  to  who  should  go  first,  and  they  waited,  calm, 
confident,  ready  and  willing  if  called. 

Massachusetts,  having  the  greatest  population  of  any  of  the 
New  England  States,  was  called  upon  to  supply  the  greatest 
number  of  men  for  the  first  draft.  In  all.  New  England  was 
asked  to  provide  37,438  men  as  its  first  contingent.  The  New 
England  States  were  called  upon  for  the  following  numbers : 

Massachusetts 20,586 

Connecticut I0)977 

Maine 1,821 

Rhode  Island i  ,801 

New  Hampshire i  ,204 

Vermont i  ,049 

Total 37.438 

It  was  stated  that  these  men  would  be  sent  to  Camp  Devens 
for  training,  and  then,  and  not  until  then,  did  the  public  inter- 
est really  turn  toward  the  cantonment,  which  had  been  under 
process  of  construction  only  about  two  weeks,  and  of  which  we 
knew  very  little,  as  never  before  in  the  history  of  our  country 
had  such  an  undertaking  been  even  thought  of. 

Forty  thousand  men  (for  there  were  some  2,000  odd  coming 
to  Devens  from  northern  New  York  State  also)  from  every 
walk  and  condition  of  life,  herded  together  into  one  camp  like 
so  many  cattle!  The  idea  was  revolting,  not  to  say  terrifying, 
and  the  more  timid  conjured  up  pictures  of  disease-infested 
holes,  miscalled  camps,  such  as  were  found  during  the  Civil 
and  Spanish  Wars,  where  men  died  by  the  thousands  of  disease. 
That  a  modern  city,  even  though  it  was  constructed  of  wood, 


6  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

could  be  provided  for  this  vast  number  of  men  in  two  short 
months  staggered  the  imagination,  and  some  of  us  actually 
scouted  the  idea  as  preposterous. 

Just  two  days  after  the  announcement  that  we  would  be 
called  on  for  these  thousands  came  the  word  from  abroad  that 
the  American  Army  in  France  had  moved  up  close  to  the  fight- 
ing front  and  that  trench  training  "was  begun  without  an 
hour's  delay." 

Our  men  were  in  it — almost.  They  were  at  the  front  at 
least.  We  must  back  them  up.  The  Yanks  were  ready,  will- 
ing, eager.  The  big  camp  might  not  "come  through, "  but  our 
men  would,  anyway.  And  so  we  decided  that  we  were  willing 
to  be  shown. 


Chapter  II 

ASTONISHING    CONSTRUCTION    AND    FIRST 
ARRIVALS 

Nine  weeks  from  the  day  on  which  the  newspapers  an- 
nounced that  work  had  actually  been  started  on  New  England's 
own  military  cantonment,  the  Fred  T.Ley  Company  of  Spring- 
field, Massachusetts,  inserted  a  huge  advertisement  in  all  the 
Boston  dailies  announcing  that  Camp  Devens — which  had 
been  named  in  honor  of  General  Charles  Devens,  one  of  New 
England's  general  officers  in  the  Civil  War — ^was  ready  for  the 
New  England  soldiers.  But  that  camp  was  vastly  different 
from  the  one  that  stands  outside  the  village  of  Ayer  today. 
In  fact  it  was  only  about  one  sixth  of  the  present  camp. 

To  New  England  then,  however,  it  was  a  truly  wonderful 
place.  Our  conception  of  a  military  camp  had  heretofore  been 
a  long  grassy  field  gleaming  white  with  tents,  where  at  night 
the  camp-fires  shone  brightly  and  the  men  clustered  around  the 
blaze  and  lifted  their  voices  in  song.  It  had  been  a  mental 
picture  of  weary  soldiers  sleeping  on  the  ground,  while  sentries 
paced  around  the  cluster  of  tents  in  the  darkness. 

The  newspapers  announced  that  Camp  Devens  was  a  city  of 
comfortable  buildings,  two  miles  long  by  one  and  one-half  miles 
wide,  covering  an  area  of  10,000  acres.  Just  before  the  "first 
five  per  cent"  of  New  England's  contribution  to  the  army  that 
was  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle  against  the  Huns  left  their  homes 
to  begin  their  training,  we  began  to  realize  that  the  seemingly 
impossible  had  been  accomplished.  A  city  of  barrack  homes 
for  43,000  men  had  sprung  up  on  sandy  hillsides  and  fields 
which  nine  weeks  before  were  covered  with  scrub  growth  and 
trees,  untenanted  and  unbroken  by  roads. 

They  switched  on  the  lights  on  the  night  of  August  30.   Not 

7 


8  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

the  fire  light,  but  electric  lights,  thousands  and  thousands  of 
them.  And  out  of  the  darkness  flashed  a  dream  city,  man- 
made  magic,  thousands  of  windows  blinking  brightly,  a  daz- 
zling vision  rolling  back  into  the  hills  like  a  dozen  terraced 
Great  White  Ways.  New  England  had  beaten  the  rest  of  the 
country.  Her  cantonment  was  finished  first,  ready  to  receive 
its  thousands  of  potential  soldiers  and  house  them  comfortably. 

It  had  taken  a  civilian  army  to  build  this  home  for  the  sol- 
dier army.  It  was  a  triumph  for  American  brains,  American 
business  organization,  American  labor  organization,  American 
mechanical  devices,  American  materials  from  American  forests 
and  American  factories,  American  transportation  and,  greatest 
of  all,  for  American  push. 

There  were  some  9,000  men  in  this  civilian  army,  working 
under  a  mere  youngster,  Frank  B.  Rogers,  who  superintended 
the  job  for  the  Fred  T.  Ley  Company.  Rogers  was  so  young 
that  he  had  to  register  for  the  draft  himself.  The  civilian 
army  started  to  move  out  on  August  28,  their  work  completed. 
They  had  worked  every  day  for  nine  weeks;  Sundays,  holidays, 
every  day.  For  America  was  at  war,  and  every  moment 
counted.  It  was,  indeed,  as  mixed  a  group  of  laborers  as  could 
be  found  anywhere,  yet  there  was  never  a  hint  of  labor  trouble. 
For  most  of  them  knew  what  patriotism  is,  and  as  they  sat 
down  to  every  meal  they  ate  on  the  camp  site  they  were  con- 
fronted by  a  little  sign  which  read : 

ONLY  A  FEW  OF  US 
CAN  FIGHT  FOR  THE  FLAG, 

BUT  ALL  OF  US 

CAN    WORK    FOR    THE    FLAG. 

HELP    WIN    THE    WAR    BY   AVOIDING 

ACCIDENTS. 

DO    YOUR    BIT. 

And  so,  several  days  before  the  first  men  were  due  to  arrive, 
this  civilian  army  had  erected  more  than  600  buildings,  laid 


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FORGING  THE  SWORD  9 

more  than  25  miles  of  sewer  and  water  pipe — all  of  it  buried 
under  ground — had  laid  more  than  400  miles  of  electric  wiring 
— both  light  and  telephone — had  built  nearly  20  miles  of  fine 
granolithic  road,  had  dug  a  well  of  some  3,000,000  gallons 
capacity  and  had  installed  some  2,200  shower  baths.  They 
had  used  up  34,000,000  square  feet  of  lumber,  and  tons  of  nails 
and  other  building  material,  and  the  camp  was  ready  for  New 
England's  first  contingent  of  recruits. 

When  1,000  officers,  graduates  of  the  Officers'  Training 
Camp  at  Plattsburg,  New  York,  arrived  at  Camp  Devens  one 
week  ahead  of  the  first  five  per  cent  of  men  to  be  called,  they 
were  so  amazed  at  the  vastness  of  the  place  that  they  didn't 
get  over  it  for  days.  They  found,  to  be  exact,  199  company 
barracks,  74  officers'  barracks,  300  large  and  small  lavatories, 
ten  regimental  headquarters  buildings,  a  large  double  divisional 
headquarters  building,  ten  quartermaster  storehouses,  15  med- 
ical buildings,  three  light  and  one  heavy  artillery  buildings,  41 
company  storehouses,  a  refrigerating  plant;  post-office  build- 
ings, bakery,  hospital  buildings,  fire  stations,  garages,  stables, 
guardhouses,  religious  and  recreational  buildings  and  other  de- 
tached structures  enough  to  fill  several  pages. 

As  soon  as  the  buildings  mentioned  above  had  been  com- 
pleted, many  of  the  civilian  army  that  had  built  them  began  to 
depart.  But  for  months  afterwards  laborers  and  carpenters 
and  steam  fitters  and  engineers  were  still  there,  working  in- 
cessantly, even  while  troops  were  training  all  around  them. 
And  they  built  and  built  until  today  Camp  Devens  is  composed 
of  more  than  4,000  buildings  and  more  than  50,000  men  can  be 
accommodated  within  its  confines. 

The  speed  of  these  workmen  caused  even  Captain  Edward 
A.  Canfield,  construction  quartermaster  for  the  Government, 
to  marvel.  Eight  weeks  before  the  first  men  arrived  at  the 
camp  there  seemed  to  be  just  a  little  doubt  in  the  mind  of  the 
captain  as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  undertaking  in  so  short  a 
time.     And  this  was  only  natural,  inasmuch  as  it  had  never 


10  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

been  done  or  even  attempted  before.  Just  before  the  first  re- 
cruits arrived  Captain  Canfield  cited  to  newspaper  men,  as  an 
example  of  the  speed  with  which  the  buildings  were  erected, 
the  case  of  the  hospital  buildings,  which  were  built  at  the  rate 
of  one  every  40  minutes.  The  hospital  was  planned  to  ac- 
commodate 1,600  bed  patients. 

When  the  thousand  Plattsburg  graduates,  who  were  to  com- 
mand the  first  of  New  England's  National  Army,  arrived  they 
were  lost  almost  as  soon  as  they  entered  the  cantonment.  Be- 
sides themselves  and  the  9,000  odd  workmen  and  a  few  hundred 
other  troops  on  duty  at  the  cantonment  there  were  about 
12,000  people  on  the  grounds,  but  it  seemed  as  though  there 
was  a  man  only  here  and  there. 

But  while  New  England  people  were  interested  in  the  size  of 
the  camp  and  all  the  wonderful  details  concerning  its  construc- 
tion, what  they  were  more  interested  in  were  the  conditions 
under  which  their  sons  and  husbands  and  brothers  and  sweet- 
hearts and  friends  were  going  to  live.  They  were  gratified 
when  they  found  out.  The  enlisted  men  found  two-story 
wooden,  sheathed  buildings  waiting  for  them.  The  upper 
story  was  a  large  dormitory  room,  without  partitions,  in  which 
the  iron  cots  for  the  whole  company  were  ranged  side  by  side 
in  long  rows.  Each  man  was  given  a  certain  amount  of  floor 
space  as  well  as  air  space  for  his  own,  and  inspectors  saw  to  it 
that  each  man  had  all  that  was  coming  to  him.  There  were 
to  be  no  congested  sleeping  quarters. 

The  lower  floor,  they  found,  was  divided  into  two  long  rooms, 
one  a  mess  hall  with  long  tables  and  benches  and  a  big  serving 
counter  at  the  far  end,  and  the  other  a  living  or  assembly  room, 
suitable  for  gatherings  of  different  sorts,  for  lectures  or  study 
or  recreation.  Altogether  they  were  by  far  the  most  comfort- 
able army  quarters  any  one  had  ever  seen  provided  for  men 
who  were  going  into  field  service. 

Outside  of  each  barrack  building  was  a  lavatory  building, 
containing  modern  shower  baths  and  toilet  arrangements,  with 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  ii 

running  hot  and  cold  water.  The  floor  was  of  cement,  and  in 
the  center  of  each  building  was  a  big  boiler  which  provided  the 
hot  water  and  also  kept  the  place  warm,  making  a  comfortable 
bath  possible. 

The  officers'  quarters  were  one-story  buildings,  long  and 
narrow,  with  kitchen  and  mess  hall  at  one  end.  Along  each 
side  of  the  center  hall  running  through  the  buildings  were  the 
bedrooms,  about  eight  feet  by  twelve,  one  for  each  officer. 

When  the  camp  was  first  opened  the  heating  arrangements 
had  not  been  installed,  but  they  were  not  yet  necessary.  Later, 
however,  and  before  the  real  cold  weather  came,  more  than  20 
central  heating  plants  were  built  to  provide  steam  heat  for 
every  building  in  the  camp.  Instead  of  running  the  steam 
pipes  under  ground  they  were  run  over  head,  each  pipe  having 
an  outer  covering,  with  an  air  space  between.  There  was  some 
question  in  the  minds  of  many  as  to  whether  this  scheme  would 
work.  But  it  did  work  perfectly,  and  on  the  coldest  days  in 
winter  the  barracks  were  warm  enough  to  satisfy  the  most 
delicate. 

And  there  were  electric  lights  in  abundance.  Alas  for  the 
blazing  camp-fires  of  our  imaginations,  around  which  tired 
soldiers  huddled  and  scrawled  letters  to  us  at  home!  Each 
building  was  as  brilliantly  lighted  as  almost  any  public  building 
to  be  found  in  a  large  city.  The  transforming  station,  located 
just  across  the  state  road  from  the  cantonment,  received 
66,000  volts  from  the  Connecticut  Valley  Power  and  Light- 
ing Company  and  then  "stepped  it  down"  to  the  required 
voltage. 

The  water  for  the  cantonment  came  from  the  largest  dug 
well  in  New  England,  some  50  feet  in  circumference  and  45 
feet  deep.  It  was  sunk  on  the  side  of  a  hill  of  water-bearing 
gravel,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  center  of  the  cantonment. 
From  the  well  the  water  was  pumped  into  huge  tanks  and  from 
the  tanks  it  was  run  through  California  redwood  pipes — a  new 
thing  in  New  England — used  because  it  could  be  secured  more 


12  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

quickly  than  metal  pipes.  It  was  said  to  ^ive  perfectly  satis- 
factory use  up  to  ten  years. 

Through  the  underground  maze  of  pipes,  gridironed  all  over 
the  cantonment,  the  water  was  pumped  to  four  tanks  of  100,000 
gallons  capacity  each,  located  on  a  hill  at  the  other  end  of  the 
cantonment,  so  that  with  these  tanks  full  at  one  end  and  the 
pumping  station  at  the  other  end  of  the  water  system  there 
was  good  pressure  all  the  time. 

And  three  fire-fighting  companies  were  organized  almost  as 
soon  as  the  buildings  began  to  spring  up.  Lookouts  were 
stationed  on  several  hills  around  the  camp,  continually  scan- 
ning the  horizon  through  field  glasses.  It  was  not  proposed  to 
have  this  cantonment  destroyed  by  fire,  either  through  accident 
or  enemy  design,  if  precautions  could  prevent  it.  The  first 
companies  were  officered  by  Chief  Arthur  H.  Strong  of  Spring- 
field, Massachusetts,  and  Lieutenant  W.  H.  Kirk,  for  thirty 
years  in  the  fire  department  at  Worcester,  Massachusetts. 

The  hospital  was  erected  on  a  hill  at  the  northwest  corner 
of  the  cantonment  area,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  infantry 
section,  near  the  old  Shirley  turnpike  and  overlooking  the 
Nashua  River.  Major  G.  I.  Jones  was  the  first  officer  in 
charge.  Here  were  placed  1,600  beds  scattered  through  59 
ward  buildings.  And  there  was  an  isolation  ward,  an  ortho- 
pedic ward,  a  neuro-psychiatric  ward,  operating  rooms,  labora- 
tories, and  pretty  nearly  every  kind  of  modern  convenience 
and  luxury  to  be  found  in  any  large  city  hospital,  with  this 
besides — a  glorious  pine  grove  with  the  best  view  of  the  can- 
tonment, where  convalescents  could  spend  their  time  while 
they  were  recovering  their  strength. 

Scientific  sanitation  was  insisted  upon  by  the  Government 
officers  from  the  very  beginning.  They  condemned  number- 
less springs,  ordered  change  after  change  in  the  living  arrange- 
ments for  the  workmen,  and  observed  every  possible  precau- 
tion against  disease  and  infection.  The  cantonment  seemed  a 
flyless,  mosquitoless,  insectless  expanse.     Everyone  spoke  of 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  13 

the  healthy,  natural  conditions,  with  the  dry,  sandy  location, 
and  what  nature  didn't  look  after  the  sanitary  workers  did.  A 
Sanitary  Detachment  from  the  Regular  Army — three  hundred 
officers  and  men  from  Fort  Benjamin  Harrison — worked  day 
and  night  making  the  New  England  cantonment  the  healthiest 
spot  in  New  England. 

Another  advance  guard  that  arrived  before  the  hosts  of  New 
England's  fighting  men  descended  on  the  camp  was  the  school 
for  cooks  and  bakers,  for  from  the  outset  Uncle  Sam  decided 
to  have  his  the  best-fed  army  in  the  world.  Three  hundred 
men  with  some  experience  in  hotel  and  restaurant  cooking,  who 
joined  the  Regular  Army,  were  sent  to  camp  for  instruction 
under  Sergeant  R.  W.  McAuley  and  J.  Henry  Ham,  a  former 
Boston  hotel  chef.  They,  too,  were  ready  when  the  men  began 
to  arrive. 

In  the  lines  of  quartermaster  storehouses,  beside  the  miles  of 
railroad  tracks  built  for  the  cantonment,  were  tons  and  tons  of 
provisions  for  both  the  inner  and  outer  man.  There  was 
clothing  enough  for  an  army  and  food  enough  for  several 
armies.     Everything  was  in  readiness,  even  to  the  officers. 

And  how  New  England  rejoiced  when  announcement  was 
made  that  a  New  England  officer  was  to  head  this  modern 
division  that  we  were  called  upon  to  provide!  He  was  Major- 
General  Harry  Foote  Hodges,  Boston  born,  of  an  old  and 
brilliant  New  England  family,  the  "map  maker  of  the  Panama 
Canal";  he  was  considered  by  those  in  the  service  one  of  the 
brainiest  engineering  officers  in  the  entire  army,  quiet,  reserved 
and  attending  to  just  one  thing  all  the  time — his  job. 

General  Hodges'  staff  was  of  the  same  caliber.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Merch  B.  Stewart  was  Chief  of  Staff,  Major  Jonathan 
M.  Wainwright,  Assistant  Chief  of  Staff;  Captain  Arthur  F. 
Brown,  Intelligence  Officer;  Major  Harry  L.  Hodges  (no  rela- 
tion to  the  general),  Adjutant;  Captain  Theodore  E.  Burleigh, 
Assistant  Adjutant;  Lieutenant-Colonel  H.  F.  Dalton,  Quar- 
termaster; Major  Austin  M.  Pardee,  Inspector;  Lieutenant- 


14  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Colonel  E.  K.  Massee,  Judge  Advocate;  Lieutenant-Colonel 
J.  W.  Hanner,  Surgeon;  Major  J.  L.  Siner,  Sanitary  Inspector; 
Major  George  M.  Peek,  Ordnance  Officer,  and  Major  Charles 
A.  Lewis,  Signal  Officer. 

This  was  the  brilliant  Headquarters  Staff  of  what  became 
the  76th  Division,  National  Army,  U.  S.  A. 

Other  officers,  including  four  brigadier-generals  were  also 
there,  temporarily  attached  to  Headquarters.  But  they  were 
merely  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  men  who  were  to  make  up 
New  England's  first  National  Army  Division.  Later  they 
organized  and  commanded  brigades. 


Chapter  III 
HOW  THE   DRAFT  WORKED 

Bright  and  clear  dawned  the  morning  of  September  5,  191 7 
— that  historic  day  on  which  the  first  of  New  England's  fighting 
hosts  left  their  homes  for  the  great  adventure.  They  had  been 
preceded,  of  course,  by  the  National  Guard  men,  but  these 
did  not  go  to  Camp  Devens,  and  besides,  they  were  more  than 
half  soldiers  before  Uncle  Sam  ever  entered  the  World  War. 

It  would  be  futile  to  attempt  a  description  of  the  feelings  of 
the  people  of  New  England  on  that  day.  It  marked  the  be- 
ginning of  many  partings,  of  many  heartaches  and  of  much 
sorrow  and  care  and  anxiety,  but  also  of  unbounded  pride  and 
patriotism  and  joy  of  service.  Not  a  city,  town  nor  village  in 
the  six  New  England  States  but  what  gave  up  at  least  one  of 
its  sons  on  that  day.  And  they  were  all  headed  in  one  direc- 
tion— Camp  Devens. 

In  the  larger  places  thousands  turned  out  and  gave  these 
lads  a  rousing  send-off,  lasting  in  most  cases  from  the  head- 
quarters of  the  draft  board  to  the  railroad  tracks  at  the  station. 
Of  course  there  were  tears,  but  for  the  most  part  the  Yankee 
spirit — that  indomitable  fighting  quality  that  was  to  strike 
blind  terror  to  the  heart  of  the  Hun — predominated,  and  our 
mothers  and  sisters  and  sweethearts  sent  their  loved  ones 
away  with  a  smile. 

To  Maine — the  Pine  Tree  State — belongs  the  credit  of  hav- 
ing the  first  man  report  for  duty  in  the  National  Army  at  Camp 
Devens.  Ernest  Glenwood  of  Perry,  Maine,  was  the  first  man 
to  have  his  name  recorded  by  the  receiving  officers,  and  he  was 
followed  by  Hazen  Hoar  of  Calais. 

There  were  but  91  men  in  all  from  Maine  to  report  as  the 
"first  five  per  cent, "  and  they  started  for  Devens  on  the  night 

15 


i6  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

of  September  4.  They  came  the  farthest  and  they  reached 
camp  first,  Maine  thereby  beating  the  rest  of  New  England 
and  northern  New  York  State  in  getting  men  into  the  service. 
The  contingent  arrived  at  Ayer  before  dayhght  on  September 
5,  having  come  in  on  the  Bar  Harbor  Express  to  New  York. 
They  occupied  two  special  cars,  which  were  dropped  from  the 
train  at  Ayer  and  the  men  were  allowed  to  sleep  until  7  o'clock, 
when  they  "turned  out"  and  started  their  two-mile  hike  to 
the  cantonment. 

And  so  it  was  that,  very  early  in  the  morning,  just  three 
months  after  it  had  started  with  the  registration  on  June  5,  the 
draft  machinery  produced  at  Camp  Devens  the  first  recruits  of 
New  England's  Division  of  the  National  Army.  As  faithfully 
as  they  had  walked  into  the  polling  places  on  registration  day 
to  give  their  names  to  the  Government,  and  with  no  more  dis- 
play of  feeling,  the  New  England  boys  walked  into  the  canton- 
ment and  gave  theipselves  to  the  Government. 

It  all  went  on  so  smoothly,  so  easily,  so  quietly,  the  arrival 
of  these  first  few  hundred,  that  it  was  hard  to  realize  that  only 
the  night  before  had  President  Wilson  said  "Come,"  and  that 
this  morning  the  boys  had  walked  out  of  their  homes  and  said 
"Here." 

"Who  met  you  at  the  station  when  you  arrived?  "  some  one 
asked  these  young  huskies. 

"Jack  Frost,"  came  the  grave  reply. 

It  was  impossible  to  miss  a  guess  as  to  what  part  of  New 
England  that  cheerful,  hearty  drawl  was  raised  in. 

Soon  a  lieutenant,  looking  bright  and  dapper  in  his  new 
uniform,  appeared  at  the  station  and  took  the  "rookies"  in 
hand.  He  was  the  first  representative  of  the  force  that  was 
to  control  their  military  destinies  that  they  had  seen,  and  they 
regarded  him  gravely  and  with  interest.  At  his  direction  they 
fell  quickly  into  line,  two  by  two,  and  headed  for  the  canton- 
ment, led  by  the  officer  and  a  mounted  orderly. 

"You're  in  the  army  now,"  called  an  old-fashioned  New 


Major-General  Harry  F.  Hodges 

Commander  of  the  76th  Division 


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FORGING  THE  SWORD  17 

England  housewife  from  her  doorstep,  and  she  waved  her 
broom  at  these  lads  marching  by. 

"Yes  ma'am,"  answered  Maine  cheerfully,  and  continued 
on  his  way  whistling. 

Not  twenty  persons  saw  this  long  thin  line  of  men  plough 
its  way  through  a  mile  of  dust  and  sand  to  the  cantonment 
entrance,  but  there  they  were  greeted  with  three  ringing  cheers 
from  the  First  Massachusetts  Engineers,  formerly  the  First 
Corps  of  Cadets  and  later  the  loist  Engineers  of  the  famous 
Yankee  Division.  That  was  the  only  organized  greeting  they 
got,  and  they  weren't  quite  certain  whether  "rookies"  should 
cheer  back,  so  they  didn't.  They  just  smiled  instead,  and 
their  spirits  leaped  even  higher. 

Brigadier-General  F.  D.  Evans  and  Major  Rhinelander 
Waldo,  ex-police  commissioner  of  New  York,  were  in  charge 
of  some  200  officers  who  handled  the  registration  of  the  first 
recruits.  And  these  were  recruits  to  delight  the  heart  of  any 
officer  with  an  eye  for  promising  material.  For  all  their 
travel -worn,  unshaved  faces,  their  unmilitary  garb,  their 
glorious  mixture  of  old  suits  and  old  hats,  old  suit  cases  and 
paper  bundles  and  boxes,  there  was  strength  in  their  bodies 
and  spirit  in  their  eyes  that  showed  through  everything. 

Little  wooden  "box  offices"— one  for  each  of  the  six  New 
England  States  and  New  York  State — were  set  up  just  inside 
the  cantonment  entrance.  Each  man  bore  a  card  he  had 
brought  with  him  from  his  draft  board  at  home.  One  by  one 
they  gave  these  cards  to  an  officer  and  then  waited  until  groups 
of  eight  were  ready  to  be  marched  away  to  other  buildings 
inside  the  camp. 

The  Massachusetts  quota  followed  the  Maine  men  early  in 
the  forenoon.  Few  contingents  in  this  first  day's  arrivals  were 
of  more  than  10  or  12  men.  Off  to  the  barracks  they  went  to 
be  assigned  to  companies,  to  see  the  surgeons,  to  get  their 
uniforms  and  to  spend  their  first  day  in  the  ranks  of  the  new 
National  Army. 


i8  FORGING  THE   SWORD 

Shortly  following  the  arrival  of  the  first  small  detachment  of 
Massachusetts  men  came  about  loo  men  from  Connecticut. 
These  were  followed  by  iii  men  from  Rhode  Island,  nicely 
squaded  together  under  the  command  of  an  ex-service  man  who 
had  decided  to  get  in  again  with  the  National  Army  lads.  New 
Hampshire  men  were  in  before  dark  and  they  were  followed 
by  the  contingent  from  Vermont,  which  didn't  get  in  until 
after  lo  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

There  was  one  feature  connected  with  the  entry  into  the 
service  of  these  men  that  didn't  prove  popular.  It  was  the 
tag  they  wore  in  their  buttonholes.  Only  about  half  the  men 
who  came  in  on  the  first  day  arrived  with  their  tags  hanging 
from  their  coats.  Others  had  taken  them  off  and  either  carried 
them  in  their  hands  or  had  them  tied  to  their  bundles.  The 
idea  of  being  "tagged  like  so  many  prize  oxen"  didn't  set  well 
on  the  stomachs  of  these  young  huskies  and  they  didn't 
hesitate  to  let  it  be  known. 

Much  to  their  gratification  these  men  found  that  the  officer- 
enlisted  man  barrier  wasn't  anything  like  what  they  had 
imagined  it  would  be.  There  were  a  number  of  cases  during 
the  first  day  when  "rookies,"  just  arrived,  recognized  friends 
and  former  classmates  among  the  officers  at  the  receiving 
booths.  And  the  officers  made  the  first  advances — an  out- 
stretched hand  and  hearty  smile  and  greeting.  The  "rookies " 
hadn't  learned  to  salute  yet,  so  they  just  showed  their  glad- 
ness in  a  manly,  friendly  way,  and  the  officers  were  just  as 
friendly. 

For  that's  the  kind  of  an  army  it  was.  The  West  Pointers 
may  have  warned  the  Plattsburgers  against  fraternization  with 
the  men  or  they  may  not.  At  any  rate  the  Plattsburgers  just 
used  horse  sense,  and  by  so  doing  they  got  better  results  than 
many  of  the  ' '  Pointers. "  It  certainly  looked  like  a  democratic 
army  that  first  day. 

And  when  you  start  the  story  of  what  the  first  arrivals  did 
during  their  first  day  in  camp  it  is  almost  necessary  to  start 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  19 

telling  the  description  of  the  cantonment  all  over  again.  It 
seemed  as  though  every  person  in  New  England  wanted  to  see 
it.  If  they  didn't  have  a  friend  or  a  loved  one  already  there 
they  wanted  at  least  to  see  how  completely  American  emer- 
gency speed  measures  had  tamed  more  than  10,000  acres  of 
rough  countryside  into  a  military  city. 

Besides  being  interested  in  the  cantonment  itself,  all  New 
England — and  most  of  all  the  men  who  expected  to  be  sent  to 
Camp  Devens — were  interested  in  what  was  happening  to  the 
recruits  who  were  among  the  first  to  go  into  the  service.  For, 
with  very  few  exceptions,  the  military  life  was  as  so  much 
Greek  to  Yankee  folks. 

In  general  here  is  what  happened  to  every  one  of  the  40,000 
men  who  were  sent  to  Camp  Devens  in  the  first  draft.  This 
was  the  program  outlined  by  Colonel  Arthur  S,  Conklin, 
commander  of  the  303d  Field  Artillery,  who  acted  as  com- 
mander of  the  151st  Field  Artillery  Brigade  during  the  early 
days  of  the  cantonment. 

The  day  of  his  arrival  the  recruit  was  met  at  the  Ayer  station 
by  a  detail  of  officers  from  the  camp.  It  didn't  make  any 
difference  whether  he  came  alone  or  in  a  large  party,  the  officers 
were  always  there,  and  it  was  simple  enough  to  make  known 
the  fact  that  the  cantonment  was  the  destination  sought. 

' '  What  state  do  you  come  from? ' '  was  the  first  question  asked 
a  man  by  the  United  States  Army.  Then,  on  foot  or  by  motor 
truck,  the  recruit  was  taken  to  the  cantonment  gate. 

There  he  found  seven  little  wooden  booths.  On  each  of  the 
first  six  was  a  big  sign  bearing  the  name  of  one  of  the  New 
England  States  and  the  seventh  was  labeled  New  York  State. 
The  recruit  picked  out  his  home  state  box  office  and  presented 
his  draft  card  to  the  officer  on  duty  inside.  Immediately  the 
officer  stated  which  regiment  or  separate  unit  the  recruit  would 
be  assigned  to,  and  another  officer  or  non-commissioned  officer 
took  the  recruit  in  hand  and  conducted  him  to  his  barracks. 

Before  he  was  sent  into  his  barrack  building  he  was  shunted 


20  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

off  to  a  field  ambulance,  which  was  set  up  in  a  field  nearby, 
where  a  detail  of  army  doctors  examined  him  for  evidences  of 
pink  eye,  diphtheria,  and  other  things  that  were  not  popular 
with  the  army  authorities. 

Following  this  superficial  examination  the  recruit  entered 
the  barrack  building,  which  was  to  be  his  temporary  home,  at 
least.  He  proceeded  through  a  room  in  which  half  a  dozen  or 
more  ofificers  were  seated  at  tables  covered  with  papers.  It 
was  much  like  going  through  a  large  tailoring  establishment, 
for  the  recruit  was  passed  from  one  group  to  another,  each 
group  taking  measurements  of  his  body.  This  was  to  find  out 
what  size  uniform  would  be  required  for  the  particular  recruit 
in  question,  and  the  ordeal,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  took  about 
ten  minutes. 

After  the  measuring  process  the  recruit  was  guided  to  a 
room  upstairs.  Here  it  seemed  as  though  the  captain  in 
charge  tried  to  see  how  many  questions  he  could  ask.  This 
was  to  determine  just  what  each  man's  education,  trade  or  pro- 
fessional experience,  natural  adaptabilities  and  prowess  in  half 
a  hundred  different  lines  fitted  him  for  in  army  life.  All  the 
answers  "personal  history, "  so  called — were  carefully  recorded 
for  reference. 

Then,  if  it  wasn't  time  for  "chow,"  as  the  recruits  soon 
learned  to  call  their  meals,  came  the  business  of  getting  a  strong 
iron  and  wire  cot  and  placing  it  beside  the  others  in  the  com- 
pany dormitory  to  which  the  recruit  had  been  assigned.  After 
that  the  recruit  went  to  more  army  doctors  in  the  regimental 
infirmary,  where  a  thorough  physical  examination,  inside  and 
out,  was  made. 

Meanwhile  the  officers  in  the  "measuring  room"  had  made 
out  their  lists  of  the  uniforms  needed  right  away  and  big  motor 
trucks  had  roared  off  in  the  direction  of  the  quartermaster 
storehouses,  returning  very  shortly  with  everything  in  the  line 
of  clothing  that  a  soldier  could  possibly  require.  The  few 
hundred  uniforms  and  kits  drawn  the  first  day  didn't  even 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  21 

amount  to  a  nibble  at  the  vast  store  Uncle  Sam  had  laid  in  for 
these  New  England  men. 

Then  came  the  actual  transformation,  for  which  almost  every 
man  had  been  waiting  from  the  moment  he  entered  the  can- 
tonment gates.  The  recruit  was  handed  his  uniform,  his 
underclothing,  shoes,  socks — everything — and  repaired  with 
his  fellows  to  the  latrine  at  the  rear  of  the  barracks.  Off  came 
the  old  "civies,"  and  every  man  went  under  the  shower  bath, 
for  bathing  was  a  popular  pastime  in  that  National  Army  of 
ours.  After  the  shower  the  uniform,  and  these  new-made 
soldiers  stood  regarding  each  other  with  grins — sometimes 
embarrassed,  but  more  often  rather  proud. 

With  the  donning  of  the  uniform  there  seemed  to  come  some- 
thing more  than  a  physical  transformation.  Was  there  a 
straightening  of  those  already  straight  shoulders?  Was  there 
a  new  brightness  in  the  eye,  a  squaring  of  the  jaw?  There  was. 
And  that  was  the  mental,  or,  if  you  prefer  it,  the  spiritual 
transformation.  For  these  men  the  war  had  begun,  and  they 
were  in  it;  in  it  up  to  their  eyes  and  with  all  the  ardor  of  their 
high  young  spirits  and  the  strength  of  their  vigorous  young 
bodies. 

That  was  about  all  for  the  first  day.  They  had  supper. 
Then  they  hung  around  the  barrack  rooms,  in  some  cases  re- 
ceiving talks  from  men  scarce  older  than  themselves,  but  men 
who  had  gone  through  the  training  mill  and  were  now  army 
officers.  Then  to  their  beds:  clean  sacks  filled  with  plenty  of 
fresh,  clean  straw,  and  warm  army  blankets. 

At  midnight  of  September  5,  1917,  there  were  510  New  Eng- 
land men  in  the  National  Army  cantonment  at  Ayer,  the  first 
five  per  cent  of  New  England's  first  contribution  to  the  war- 
time armies  of  America. 

And  before  they  slept  that  night  most  of  them  had  obeyed 
the  first  order  that  was  issued  from  that  mysterious  place 
known  as  Division  Headquarters,  up  on  the  hill  at  the  far  end 
of  the  camp.  That  order  was  a  brief  one.  Its  wording  was, 
"Write  home," 


22  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  some  of  the  first  men  to  reach  Camp 
Devens  and  report  for  dut\'.  As  has  already  been  written 
Ernest  Glenwood  of  Perr\',  ]Maine,  was  the  first  of  all  the  New 
Englanders  to  report.  Hazen  Hoar  of  Calais  was  the  second 
Maine  man.  John  B.  Murphy  of  Fitchburg  was  the  first 
^Massachusetts  man  to  come  in,  and  Herbert  G.  Frolander  of 
Providence  was  the  first  man  to  report  from  "Little  Rhody. " 
The  records  do  not  show  who  came  first  from  Connecticut, 
New  Hampshire  or  Vermont. 

These  lads  were  not  thrown  into  camp  on  one  day  and  then 
taken  out  the  next,  given  a  gun  and  ordered  to  "dig  into  it." 
Speed  was  essential,  but  the  militan.-  authorities  well  knew 
that  a  short  time  was  necessar\"  in  order  for  the  men  to  get 
acclimated,  so  it  was  ordered  that  the  actual  training  should 
not  begin  until  the  sixth  day. 

But  while  they  did  not  receive  any  actual  military  instruc- 
tion, many  of  the  things  that  ever>'  good  soldier  must  know 
were  taught  them  on  their  second  day  in  camp.  After  break- 
fast, which  was  at  6 :  30 — and  there  were  many  of  those  first 
men  to  arrive  in  camp  who  would  have  hooted  the  idea  of  even 
getting  up  at  that  hour  before  they  jumped  into  the  army — 
they  were  shown  how  to  "police  up  "  their  quarters,  to  arrange 
their  effects  neatly  and  in  a  uniform  manner.  Then  they 
started  tidying  up  the  area  surrounding  their  barracks.  From 
9:  30  until  II :  30  they  were  taken  on  walking  tours  around  the 
cantonment,  and  after  a  few  of  these  the  most  of  them  felt  that 
they  were  beginning  to  know  something  about  the  physical 
characteristics  of  the  place.  At  noon  they  had  dinner  and 
then,  until  3  o'clock,  they  spent  their  time  fixing  up  their 
equipment.  From  3  to  4  they  took  another  walk  for  exercise 
and  instruction.  These  walks  did  much  to  "harden  them  up, " 
though  many  of  the  "rookies"  only  realized  it  later. 

At  4  in  the  afternoon  they  were  advised  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  shower  baths  again,  for — and  it  was  im- 
pressed upon  them  again — bathing  was  to  be  a  habit  as  well 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  23 

at  a  sanitary  dut>'.  At  5:  30  they  had  supper,  and  in  the 
evening  more  letters  home,  more  talks  by  officers  and  more 
"getting  acquainted"  with  their  "buddies."  Taps  and  bed 
time  came  at  10  o'clock.  The  program  for  the  next  few  days 
differed  from  this  but  slightly,  and  by  that  time  the  men  were 
"  jes'  r'arin'  t'  go, "  and  real  military  drill  and  the  school  of  the 
soldier  looked  mighty  desirable. 


Chapter  IV 
THE   76TH   DIVISION   IS  ORGANIZED 

Friday  morning,  the  day  after  the  first  New  Englanders 
arrived  in  camp,  came  an  announcement  from  Division  Head- 
quarters that  tickled  these  new  soldiers  as  nothing  had  since 
they  got  into  the  army.  And  it  pleased  the  home  folks  just 
as  much.  Men  from  the  same  localities  throughout  New  Eng- 
land were  to  be  placed  in  the  same  outfits,  insofar  as  it  was 
possible,  and  on  the  heels  of  this  information  came  the  table  of 
organization  for  the  76th  National  Army  Division. 

As  the  table  of  organization  was  announced,  the  name  of  each 
unit  was  followed  by  the  names  of  the  places  from  which  the 
men  making  up  each  outfit  would  be  selected.  The  table  read 
as  follows : 

301st  Infantry — which  later  became  known  as  Boston's  Own 
Regiment:  Boston,  Brookline,  Cambridge,  Chelsea,  Everett, 
Winthrop. 

302d  Infantry — also  an  all-Massachusetts  outfit:  Milton, 
Rockland,  East  Bridgewater,  Plymouth,  North  Attleboro, 
Braintree,  North  Easton,  Fairhaven,  Sagamore,  New  Bed- 
ford, Fall  River,  Taunton,  Norwood,  Franklin,  Framingham, 
Quincy,  Newton. 

303d  Infantry:     Eastern  New  York  State. 

304th  Infantry:     Connecticut. 

301st  Field  Artillery — another  all-Massachusetts  unit:  Ar- 
lington, Belmont,  Concord,  Melrose,  Stoneham,  Peabody, 
Waltham,  Somerville,  Maiden,  Medford,  Lynn,  Salem,  Marble- 
head,  Beverly. 

Batteries  A,  B  and  C,  302d  Field  Artillery:     Vermont. 

Batteries  D,  E  and  F,  302d  Field  Artillery:     Connecticut. 

Batteries  A,  B  and  C,  303d  (Heavy)  Field  Artillery:     Maine. 

24 


Colonel  Frank  Tompkins 
301st  Infantry 


Colonel  Charles  C.  Smith 
302d  Infantry 


Colonel  J.  F.  Preston 
303  d  Infantry 


Colonel  J.  S.  Herron 
304th  Infantry 


Colonel  G.  M.  Brooke 

301st  Field  Artillery 


Photo  by  Bachrach,  Boston 

Colonel  A.  S.  Conklin 

303d  Field  Artillery 


Colonel  F.  A.  Pope 
301st  Engineers 


Colonel  H.  P.  Perry 
Depot  Brigade 


Lt.-Col.  Merch  Stewart  Lt.-Col.  Massee 


Lt.-Col.  Croft 


Maj.  Wainwright  Chap.  Geo.  O'Conor 


Maj.  Hodges 


AIaj.  Musgeave  Maj.  Weiscopf 


Capt.  Harrower 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  25 

Batteries  D,  E  and  F,  303d  (Heavy)  Field  Artillery:  New 
Hampshire, 

301st  Trench  Mortar  Battery:     Connecticut. 

301st  Machine  Gun  Battalion:     Connecticut. 

302d  Machine  Gun  Battalion — all-Massachusetts  outfit: 
Gloucester,  Ipswich,  Newburyport,  Tewksbury,  Haverhill. 

303d  Machine  Gun  Battalion:     Connecticut. 

301st  Engineers:     Rhode  Island. 

301st  Field  Signal  Battalion:  Largely  from  Lawrence, 
Massachusetts,  with  some  college  men  placed  in  certain  com- 
panies. 

301st  Supply  Train:  Brockton  and  Fitchburg,  Massachu- 
setts. 

301st  Engineer  Train:     Uxbridge,  Massachusetts. 

301st  Ammunition  Train:  Worcester,  Maynard,  Hudson, 
Milford  (all  Massachusetts). 

Headquarters  Train  and  Military  Police:  Gardner,  South- 
bridge,  Leominster  (all  Massachusetts). 

Headquarters  Troop :     Lowell,  Massachusetts. 

1st  Battalion,  151st  Depot  Brigade:     New  York  State. 

2d  and  3d  Battalions,  151st  Depot  Brigade:     Connecticut. 

4th,  5th  and  6th  Battalions,  151st  Depot  Brigade:  North 
Adams,  Adams,  Lee,  Deerfield,  Northampton,  Westfield,  Wil- 
braham,  Northfield,  Ware,  Brookfield,  Winchendon,  Spring- 
field, Chicopee,  Pittsfield,  Holyoke  (all  Massachusetts). 

Later  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  few  changes  in  this  table, 
but  for  the  most  part  that  is  how  the  first  outfit  to  be  trained 
at  Camp  Devens  lined  up  as  regards  localities.  And  this  ar- 
rangement added  much  to  the  spirit  of  the  men.  They  were, 
for  the  most  part,  among  their  own  folks — the  boys  they  knew 
and  had  grown  up  with.     It  helped  a  lot. 

Commanding  Infantry  Brigades  of  this  new  Division  were 
Brigadier-General  F.  H.  Allbright,  commander  of  the  151st 
Infantry  Brigade,  which  was  composed  of  the  301st  and  302d 
Regiments  of  Infantry  and  the  302d  Machine  Gun  Battalion, 


26  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

and  Brigadier-General  F.  D.  Evans,  commander  of  the  I52d 
Infantry  Brigade,  which  included  the  303d  and  304th  Regi- 
ments of  Infantry  and  the  303d  Machine  Gun  Battalion. 

Colonel  Frank  Tompkins,  who  was  wounded  while  chasing 
Villa  into  Mexico,  and  who  prior  to  that  had  been  military  in- 
structor at  Norwich  University,  was  given  command  of  the 
Boston  Regiment,  the  301st  Infantry.  He  had  as  second  in 
command  Lieutenant-Colonel  Percy  W.  Arnold,  who  was  later 
killed  in  France. 

The  302d  Infantry  was  commanded  by  Colonel  C.  C.  Smith, 
and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Charles  A.  Romeyn  was  second  in 
command. 

Colonel  J.  F.  Preston  was  given  command  of  the  303d 
Infantry,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  G.  W.  Stuart  was  his 
second. 

Colonel  J.  S.  Herron  commanded  the  Connecticut  Regiment 
— the  304th  Infantry — and  as  his  lieutenant-colonel  he  had 
W.  G.  Doane. 

The  151st  Artillery  Brigade  was  given  to  Brigadier-General 
William  S.  McNair,  who  was  later  to  become  a  major-general 
when  he  got  to  France.  In  his  brigade  he  had  the  301st  Field 
Artillery,  commanded  by  Colonel  George  M.  Brooke,  with 
Lieutenant-Colonel  N.  B.  Rehkopf  next  in  command;  the 
302d  Field  Artillery,  commanded  by  Colonel  Daniel  F.  Craig, 
with  Lieutenant-Colonel  Robert  M.  Danford  as  second,  and 
the  303d  Field  Artillery — the  "heavies" — commanded  by 
Colonel  Arthur  S.  Conklin,  with  Lieutenant-Colonel  F.  W. 
Stopford  second.  The  301st  Engineers  were  commanded  by 
Colonel  F.  A.  Pope  and  F.  B.  Downing  was  lieutenant-colonel. 
Colonel  George  H.  Estes  commanded  the  Headquarters  Train 
and  Military  Police. 

The  151st  Depot  Brigade,  which  was  something  new  for  most 
of  us,  and  as  to  the  duties  of  which  we  were  not  very  clear,  was 
commanded  by  Brigadier-General  William  Weigel,  who  also 
became  a  major-general  after  reaching  France,  where  he  com^ 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  27 

manded  a  division  of  his  own.  We  found  out  soon  after  the 
Depot  Brigade  was  organized  that  its  function  was  to  train 
men  and  have  them  in  readiness  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the  divi- 
sion when  those  ranks  became  depleted  in  battle.  This  put  as 
much  enthusiasm  into  the  men  assigned  to  the  Depot  Brigade 
as  to  the  men  of  the  division  proper,  and  strangely  enough 
many  of  the  Depot  Brigade  men  got  to  France  weeks  ahead 
of  the  men  in  the  division. 

From  September  5  on,  men  continued  to  arrive  almost  every 
day.  On  the  night  of  September  6  there  were  about  i  ,000  New 
England  men  in  camp.  The  state  of  Maine  men,  who  were  the 
first  to  arrive,  had  learned  how  to  salute;  just  about  everybody 
had  attended  a  free  movie  show  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building, 
and  many  of  the  messes  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  army 
baked  bean.     So  things  were  apparently  running  smoothly. 

Day  by  day  this  army  continued  to  grow.  On  Saturday 
night,  September  8,  it  was  stated  that  there  were  2,018  men 
safely  in  camp,  and  the  first  reports  of  the  doctors  who  gave 
these  men  their  real  physical  examinations  showed  that,  for  the 
most  part,  the  men  selected  by  the  local  draft  boards  for  active 
service  were  a  husky,  healthy  lot.  There  were  some  cases  of 
colossal  stupidity  or  laziness  or  ignorance,  but  they  were  the 
exceptions.  From  some  of  the  Boston  draft  boards  came  men 
who  were  actually  cripples.  One  man  had  only  one  hand  and 
some  of  the  fingers  were  missing  on  that.  Another  man  had 
only  one  eye,  and  one  chap  was  so  near  death  from  heart 
disease  that  the  doctors  ordered  that  he  be  rushed  back  to  his 
home  as  quickly  as  possible. 

When  one  draft  board  responsible  for  sending  these  men 
away  from  their  jobs  and  their  homes  was  asked  for  an  explana- 
tion they  stated  that  they  "thought  we  wanted  an  army  and 
surely  something  could  be  found  for  these  men  to  do. "  It  was 
explained  to  them  that  we  wanted  an  army,  but  it  must  be  an 
army  of  fighting  men,  not  of  invalids,  and  so  after  a  while 
the  boards  found  that  they  were  only  making  more  work  for 


28  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

themselves  by  sending  such  men,  as  others  had  to  be  sent 
afterward  to  replace  those  found  unfit. 

These  men  who  were  unfit  did  not  begin  to  show  up  until 
larger  portions  of  the  quota  were  called,  for  out  of  the  first 
1,500  men  to  be  sent  to  camp  only  six  were  found  unfit  for 
service. 

But  any  one  who  saw  the  crowd  of  visitors  at  Devens  that 
first  Sunday  would  have  thought  that  at  least  an  Army  Corps 
must  have  been  in  camp  there.  Though  there  were  only  a 
little  more  than  2,000  men  in  camp  it  was  estimated  that  the 
visitors  exceeded  60,000.  There  was  no  way  of  telling  just 
how  many  people  came,  of  course,  but  the  guards  at  the  main 
entrance  declared  that  over  20,000  automobiles  passed  through 
the  gates  and  then  passed  out  again. 

New  England  had  turned  out  in  force  to  see  her  sons.  Among 
the  vast  throng  were  many  who  had  dear  ones  at  the  camp 
already,  but  there  were  thousands  more  who  didn't  know  a 
soul  in  the  whole  vast  expanse  of  the  cantonment,  though  many 
expected  to  have  men  of  their  own  blood  there  before  long. 
From  early  morning  until  late  afternoon  they  came,  from  every 
corner  of  New  England  and  eastern  New  York  State;  they 
came  by  train,  by  automobile  and  by  trolley. 

Even  the  advance  guard  of  this  multitude,  however,  missed 
one  of  the  most  impressive  sights  New  England  had  ever  seen. 
It  happened  just  after  dawn.  Several  hundred  American 
doughboys — for  such  our  men  became  as  soon  as  they  donned 
Uncle  Sam's  uniform — knelt  reverently  in  the  dew  and  listened 
to  early  Mass  by  Reverend  Father  Thomas  McGinn  of  St. 
Mary's  Church  in  Ayer.  Father  McGinn  later  became  post 
chaplain  of  the  camp,  but  on  that  Sunday  morning  he  was  just 
a  priest  without  any  army  connection. 

And  from  this  came  a  "first  message"  that  echoed  the  true 
spirit  of  New  England,  for  he  told  them  that  they  should  have 
but  one  thought  in  their  hearts  and  souls :  to  do  their  duty  to 
their  country. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  29 

"  No  matter  how  hard  the  orders  of  the  officers  may  seem, " 
said  this  gentle  clergyman,  "gaze  upon  the  Cross  and  gaze  upon 
the  flag,  and  carry  the  orders  out.  You  have  given  up  the 
avocations  of  peace;  you  have  left  them  for  the  service  of  a 
soldier.  Let  your  constant  thought  be  of  'My  Jesus  and  my 
country.' 

And  besides  seeing  the  camp,  the  thousands  of  visitors  who 
came  there  that  first  Sunday  wanted  to  find  out  just  what  the 
"rookies"  thought  of  the  army.  They  didn't  know  whether 
the  men's  mail  was  subject  to  the  critical  eye  of  a  censor  before 
it  left  the  cantonment  or  not.  We  were  very  green  about 
military  matters  during  those  first  days.  And  it  was  quite 
droll  to  see  a  serious-looking  civilian  edge  cautiously  up  to  an 
obviously  green  recruit  and  ask,  "What  do  you  really  think  of 
it  all?" 

Of  course  there  were  some  complaints,  but  those  who  had 
been  agreeably  surprised  more  than  offset  the  number  who 
would  not  have  been  satisfied  with  anything. 

"I  wouldn't  leave  this  blinkety-blanked,  cross-dashed  army 
for  money  now,"  declared  one  healthy-looking  specimen  from 
New  Haven,  Connecticut.  It  was  hard  to  make  some  people 
believe  that  anybody  actually  said  that,  but  he  truly  did,  and 
furthermore  he  appeared  to  mean  it. 

His  enthusiasm  was  one  extreme,  of  course,  just  as  the  reply 
of  a  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  boy  showed  the  other  extreme: 

"How  is  it  going?" 

"Well,  you  know  how  it  is;  I  don't  have  to  say  anything." 

The  remarks  betwixt  and  between  were  the  ones  that  told 
the  true  temper  of  these  new  soldiers.  Like  this  one  from  a 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  youngster,  v/ho  was  still  clad  in 
blue  serge  trousers,  though  the  remainder  of  his  apparel  was 
regulation.  A  newspaper  man  shot  the  usual,  "How  is  it 
going?"  athim.  He  turned  and  smiled,  "Going!  It'scoming 
— fast!"  and  he  went  chasing  away  after  it,  happy  as  a  fresh- 
man dazed  with  new  surroundings. 


30  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

And  it  was  on  this  busy  Sunday  that  a  detachment  of  men 
from  New  Hampshire,  headed  by  F.  N.  Beckwith,  mayor 
of  the  city  of  Dover,  arrived.  The  fact  that  this  mayor  had 
scorned  to  accept  the  exemption  from  service  he  might  easily 
have  had  indicates  pretty  accurately  the  spirit  of  these  men. 
With  Mayor  Beckwith  were  five  other  New  Hampshire  men — 
Maurice  E.  Hale,  J.  E.  McCarthy  and  H.  V.  Clark,  all  of 
Dover  also;  H.  W.  Robbins  of  Somersworth,  and  Alfred  E. 
Lemire  of  Rochester,  were  the  other  two. 

Many  of  the  men  from  Boston  and  other  cities  and  towns 
near  the  cantonment,  who  had  already  spent  two  and  three 
days  in  the  army,  were  granted  their  first  army  "leave,"  and 
went  to  their  homes  for  the  day,  and  with  what  these  men 
told  the  home  folks  about  the  big  camp  at  Ayer  and  what  the 
thousands  of  visitors  saw  for  themselves,  Devens  became 
pretty  well  known  to  us  almost  in  a  flash,  and  we  began  to 
appreciate  something  of  what  was  going  on  almost  at  our 
doorsteps. 

The  plan  announced  when  the  first  recruits  began  to  arrive, 
to  the  effect  that  actual  military  instruction  would  not  be  begun 
until  the  sixth  day,  was  not  rigidly  adhered  to,  as  much  because 
the  men  themselves  "wouldn't  stand  for  the  delay"  as  for  any 
other  reason.  On  the  Monday  following  the  first  visitors'  day 
(September  9),  the  New  England  men  started  their  military 
education. 

Calisthenic  exercises  in  the  early  morning,  exercises  that  sent 
the  blood  leaping  through  those  fine  young  bodies,  got  them  all 
on  edge,  and  that  very  morning  they  asked  to  be  taught  "some- 
thing about  this  game  as  long  as  we're  here."  So,  beginning 
at  the  very  bottom,  they  did  start.  It  was  only  marching,  in 
platoons  and  squads,  for  there  weren't  enough  in  each  company 
barracks  to  allow  for  even  a  skeletonized  company  formation, 
but  it  was  a  start,  and  the  men  appreciated  it. 

On  Monday,  too,  24  instructors  arrived  from  the  School  of 
Artillery  Fire  at  Fort  Sill,  Oklahoma,  and  they  started  right  in 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  31 

with  the  men  who  had  been  assigned  to  the  artillery  regiments. 
These  instructors  made  the  men  feel  that  they  were  really  get- 
ting down  to  business. 

And  so  it  looked  to  those  who  were  only  observing  what  was 
going  on.  For,  though  the  thought  of  France  was  far  away 
from  the  minds  of  most  of  the  new  men,  up  at  Division  Head- 
quarters there  were  indications  that  officers  were  looking 
into  the  future.  Lieutenant  W.  W.  Cowgill,  aide-de-camp  to 
General  Hodges,  the  division  commander,  was  given  a  very 
significant  duty  to  perform  in  addition  to  his  others.  He  had 
huge  maps  of  the  many  and  various  European  war  theaters, 
marked  with  every  last  detail  of  the  country  along  the  front. 
The  positions  of  the  various  armies  were  also  indicated 
minutely  with  colored  pins.  And  each  day  the  changes  in  the 
positions,  as  reported  officially  from  the  War  Department, 
were  marked  out  again  and  these  changes  studied  long  and 
carefully.  Some  day,  perhaps,  this  skeleton  of  a  big  fighting 
machine  would  be  "grown  up,"  and  would  be  holding  a  posi- 
tion on  one  of  those  fronts.  And  when  that  day  came  the 
machine  was  going  to  be  ready. 


Chapter  V 
"IN  THE  ARMY   NOW!" 

September  ii,  just  six  days  after  the  first  of  these  new  sol- 
diers had  arrived  at  camp,  is  a  day  which  none  of  them  will  ever 
forget.  They  had  received  farewells  and  many  admonitions 
from  their  own  folks  at  home.  They  had  read  of  how  Presi- 
dent Wilson  marched  at  the  head  of  the  first  detachment  of 
National  Army  men  to  leave  the  city  of  Washington  for  the 
training  camps,  and  they  had  likewise  read  the  President's 
message  to  the  men  of  our  Nation,  when  they  started  out  for 
this  new  adventure.  But,  on  September  ii,  the  New  England 
men  in  Camp  Devens  saw  for  the  first  time  officially  and  most 
of  them  for  the  first  time  actually,  the  man  who  commanded 
them  and  under  whose  command  they  were  to  go  to  France. 
He  was  Major-General  Harry  F.  Hodges. 

And  with  General  Hodges,  on  this  occasion,  was  Governor 
Samuel  W.  McCall  of  Massachusetts.  The  governor  of  the 
Bay  State  had  come  to  Devens  to  say  a  few  words,  not  only  to 
Massachusetts  men,  but  to  the  men  of  all  the  New  England 
States,  and  to  give  them  personally  the  greetings  of  that 
Commonwealth. 

The  occasion  of  Governor  McCall's  visit  was  also  the  first 
for  the  gathering  together  of  the  New  England  men  who  had 
come  into  the  cantonment,  and,  while  there  were  only  about 
2,200  of  them  in  all,  to  the  amateur  it  seemed  men  enough  for  a 
whole  army.  Semicircled  in  a  little  slice  of  what  was  later  the 
main  parade  field,  ankle  and  knee  deep  in  stubble  and  bushes, 
with  the  workmen's  rough  shacks  for  a  foreground  and  the 
barren  barracks  rising  on  Infantry  Hill  as  a  background,  these 
lads  stood  for  more  than  an  hour,  before  the  little  line  of 

32 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  33 

automobiles  bearing  the  governor  and  the  general  and  their 
respective  staffs  arrived  at  5:  15. 

Standing  there  in  the  fading  dayHght,  scarce  more  than  half 
of  them  fully  clad  in  the  uniform  of  the  country  for  which  they 
were  offering  their  all,  these  men  heard  the  Chief  Executive  of 
the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  tell  them  that  they 
represented  "the  physical  prime  of  the  normal  American,  the 
hopes  and  the  aspirations  and  the  ideals  of  America,"  phrasing 
just  what  their  own  officers  and  the  visitors  to  the  camp  had 
been  thinking  ever  since  the  magnitude  of  the  task  before  the 
country  hit  them  full  in  the  heart  with  its  beginning  the  week 
before. 

Almost  before  the  line  of  motor  vehicles  had  stopped,  how- 
ever, Major-General  Hodges,  who  was  riding  with  Governor 
McCall,  was  on  his  feet  in  the  tonneau  of  their  machine.  His 
first  verbal  greeting  to  his  men  was  brief.  Looking  at  this 
little  group  with  pride  he  said : 

Men  of  the  76th  Division,  you  are  having  the  first  military  experience  in 
your  history  on  the  soil  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  the  Old 
Bay  State.  You  are  honored  today  by  the  presence  of  the  Chief  Executive 
of  that  Commonwealth,  who  has  come  to  bid  you  welcome. 

That  was  all  he  said.  The  men  received  his  brief  message 
as  soldiers;  in  silence,  but  they  were  gratified,  nevertheless, 
even  to  have  seen  this  man  who  was  to  lead  them  through  the 
primary  stages  of  their  military  experience  and  to  know  at 
least  what  he  looked  like. 

Governor  McCall's  message  to  them  was  not  so  brief,  and  it 
was  of  such  a  nature  as  to  "warm  them  all  up  inside"  and 
make  them  feel  that  their  own  folks  were  really  behind  them. 
Said  the  governor: 

I  welcome  you  most  heartily  to  this  state.  I  welcome  you  as  the  advance 
guard  of  the  new  National  Army.  I  congratulate  you  upon  being  under 
the  command  of  General  Hodges,  your  chief  instructor,  a  man  who  has  been 
a  professor  at  our  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  and  has  himself  grad- 
uated from  that  institution,  a  man  who  has  won  distinction  and  high  honors 
through  regular  grades  of  promotion  to  major-general  of  the  army. 
4 


34  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

We  are  taking  different  methods,  this  year,  of  raising  our  armies  than 
have  been  taken  from  the  beginning  of  our  Republic.  Instead  of  appealing 
for  enlistments  the  Government  makes  the  selection.  The  country  calls 
you  to  come  to  her  help.  Never  before  in  this  country  nor  in  this  world 
has  a  more  democratic  army  resulted  than  this  National  Army  will  be. 
You  represent  the  ideal  of  America,  and  we  cannot  say  more  for  any  army. 

I  don't  desire  to  use  the  word  "class,"  for  we  have  no  classes  in  demo- 
cratic America.  We  have  abolished  the  hyphen.  You  may  have  your 
origin  in  some  foreign  country  in  Europe,  but,  despite  that,  you  represent 
our  Republic  and  you  represent  the  American  people  as  a  whole. 

Men,  I  feel  sure  you  will  continue  to  represent  them  and,  if  called  upon 
to  act,  will  remember  the  history  of  this  country  and  make  your  actions 
worthy  of  it. 

Then  the  governor  sat  down.  The  men  hadn't  cheered 
General  Hodges,  but  they  began  to  applaud  the  governor 
before  he  stopped  speaking  and  by  their  applause  they  showed 
that  the  sentiments  he  had  expressed  were  their  sentiments 
and  that  they  would  see  to  it  that  all  he  had  spoken  of  was 
accomplished.  Immediately  following  the  governor's  speech, 
the  men  were  marched  off  the  field,  and  the  men  from  Maine 
and  New  Hampshire  had  what,  in  most  instances,  was  their 
first  glimpse  of  the  governor  of  the  state  in  which  they  were 
receiving  their  military  training. 

These  men  were  really  getting  down  to  brass  tacks  by  now. 
Their  preliminary  training,  or  what  should  more  properly  be 
called  the  "  hardening  up  "  process,  was  progressing  rapidly,  and 
at  the  end  of  their  first  week  at  Camp  Devens  most  of  the  men 
felt  as  though  they  had  been  in  the  army  for  months. 

And  they  were  beginning  to  realize  that,  although  they  were 
away  from  their  home  and  loved  ones,  people  still  cared  a  great 
deal  about  them  and  their  welfare.  They  had  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  other  welfare  organizations  with  them  always,  and  then 
the  regimental  funds  were  started.  It  was  the  301st  Infantry 
that  first  announced  the  formation  of  a  regimental  fund,  and 
it  was  accomplished  through  the  efforts  of  Major  Edward 
(Pete)  Bowditch,  he  of  Harvard  football  fame.  Major  Bow- 
ditch  announced  within  a  week  of  the  opening  of  the  camp  that 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  35 

a  friend  of  his  had  already  advanced  the  sum  of  $8,000  as  a 
starter  on  the  regimental  fund,  and  that  the  fund  would  start 
to  grow  on  that. 

These  regimental  funds  and  what  they  were  to  be  used  for 
were  little  known  to  the  men  at  this  time,  but  later  they  were 
to  be  much  better  known  and  appreciated,  for  they  grew  into 
thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars,  and  many  a  man  had 
things  in  the  army  that  he  could  not  possibly  have  had  had  it 
not  been  for  the  regimental  and  company  funds. 

On  the  day  following  the  visit  of  Governor  McCall,  Governor 
Henry  W.  Keyes  of  New  Hampshire  made  his  appearance, 
coming  to  see  the  men  of  the  Granite  State  who  were  already 
in  the  army.  Governor  Keyes,  who  was  a  crew  man  in  his 
Harvard  days,  was  accompanied  by  his  two  brothers,  George 
T.  and  Charles  W.  Keyes.  He  went  straight  to  Division 
Headquarters,  where  he  told  General  Hodges  and  the  news- 
paper men  that  his  state  had  in  view  steps  to  be  taken  for  the 
welfare  of  New  Hampshire  boys  in  the  76th  Division,  adding 
that  New  Hampshire  would  do  as  much  for  her  men  as  any 
other  state  would  do  for  hers. 

Soon  after  their  arrival  these  New  England  youngsters,  who 
were  so  willing  to  offer  their  lives  for  their  country,  got  a  dis- 
tinct shock.  Orders  came  through  from  the  War  Department, 
when  only  five  per  cent  of  New  England's  first  quota  was  in 
camp,  that  a  special  company  was  to  be  formed  in  the  151st 
Depot  Brigade  to  house  the  conscientious  objectors  drafted 
into  the  service.  This  word  immediately  started  a  hunt  among 
the  men,  by  the  men  themselves,  for  these  objectors  who  were 
not  willing  to  fight  for  democracy. 

In  the  first  five  per  cent  not  an  objector  was  found,  and  the 
vanguard  of  the  division  began  to  prepare  for  any  of  the  "yellow 
bellies"  who  might  later  make  their  appearance.  And  if  any 
of  these  individuals  could  have  heard  the  "midnight  opera" 
that  followed  the  orders  to  prepare  for  their  coming,  they  might 
well  have  had  a  change  of  heart.   In  deep  guttural  tones  would 


36  FORGING  THE   SWORD 

come  the  query  from  one  end  of  the  darkened  bunk  room: 
"What  will  clean  our  bayonets  in  the  morning?"  "Bloo-o-o- 
d-d-d!"  would  come  the  chorus  in  tones  just  as  deep  and 
ominous.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  none  of  them  had  bayonets 
yet,  and  when  the  "C.  O.'s"  did  begin  to  arrive  no  blood 
was  shed. 

By  this  time  the  drafted  men  were  standing  their  own  guards, 
and  they  found  it  an  occupation  none  too  well  to  their  liking, 
though  of  course  they  performed  their  duties  in  the  most  con- 
scientious manner.  Some  extremely  ludicrous  situations  arose 
during  the  first  few  nights  when  the  National  Army  men  were 
on  guard,  of  course,  and,  though  most  of  them  have  been  told 
again  and  again,  one  or  two  may  bear  retelling  here. 

A  member  of  General  Hodges*  personal  staff  strolled  down 
through  the  camp  about  midnight  on  one  of  the  first  nights 
drafted  men  had  been  posted.  He  was  looking  for  material 
for  a  report  to  the  division  commander  on  how  the  men  were 
picking  up  their  duties.  Near  Headquarters  he  saw  the  form 
of  a  sentry  through  the  darkness,  and  just  to  make  sure  that 
the  man  would  see  him  in  plenty  of  time  to  challenge,  he 
coughed  loudly.  But  the  man  paid  him  not  the  slightest  bit 
of  attention.  So  the  officer  strolled  slowly  up  to  him  and  made 
as  if  to  go  by.  Right  opposite  the  man  he  turned  quickly  and 
snapped  out: 

"Well,  have  you  anything  to  say  to  me?" 

"Gosh,  yes,"  rejoined  the  "rookie."  "I'd  speak  to  any- 
body. I've  been  out  here  in  the  dark  nigh  on  to  two  hours  an' 
I  ain't  seen  a  soul." 

The  man  didn't  mean  to  be  careless.  He  simply  didn't  under- 
stand and,  while  he  showed  one  extreme,  the  other  was  shown  by 
the  over-eager  youngster  who  was  walking  his  post  about  9 :  30 
the  following  night.  The  colonel  of  his  regiment  was  taking 
his  wife  and  daughter  to  their  hotel  outside  the  camp,  when 
suddenly  a  "Halt!  Who  goes  there?"  rang  out.  The  women 
jumped,  but  the  colonel,  quite  pleased,  repHed :  "  Colonel  Blank, 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  37 

with  wife  and  daughter. "  But  the  guard's  reply  nearly  lifted 
the  colonel  out  of  his  long  riding  boots.  "Advance  Colonel 
Blank  and  be  recognized.     Wife  and  daughter  mark  time. " 

The  officers  were  patient  and  helpful,  for  the  most  part. 
Those  who  were  not  seldom  held  their  jobs  as  commanders  of 
men  for  very  long.  When  they  were  found  unfit  to  guide  and 
instruct  these  boys  who  were  entirely  green  at  the  military 
game  they  were  shunted  to  other  jobs  where  they  could  be 
used  without  ruining  the  material  that  New  England  had  given 
the  army. 

For  the  most  part  the  National  Army  lads  liked  their  officers 
and  the  officers  liked  the  men.  The  West  Point  officers,  es- 
pecially the  younger  ones,  learned  almost  as  much  from  the 
Plattsburg  officers  as  the  Plattsburgers  did  from  the  Regulars. 
For  these  provisional  officers  had  the  personal  touch  that  went 
so  far  in  making  America's  emergency  sword  the  keen,  strong 
blade  it  proved  to  be. 

The  officers  were  good  fellows  in  more  ways  than  one,  as 
these  2,200  Yankee  lads  admitted  less  than  ten  days  after 
their  arrival  in  camp.  For  the  officers  at  Camp  Devens  at 
that  time  dug  down  into  their  own  pockets  to  the  tune  of  $5,000 
to  start  one  of  the  biggest  ventures  of  its  kind  ever  attempted 
in  the  American  Army.  It  was  the  Devens  officers'  share  of  a 
$50,000  fund  to  establish  a  chain  of  vaudeville  and  motion 
picture  shows  in  the  camp  for  the  benefit  of  the  men  themselves, 
in  that  the  profits  from  the  10-  and  15-cent  admissions  that 
would  be  charged  were  to  go  to  the  regimental  funds  of  every 
unit  in  the  division.  Major  Reginald  Barlow  of  the  302d  In- 
fantry, a  well-known  New  York  actor  in  civil  life,  started  the 
project,  which  met  with  hearty  approval  throughout  the  camp. 

Even  in  those  early  days  of  the  cantonment,  however,  the 
men  were  well  provided  with  entertainment,  for  the  Redpath 
Lyceum  Bureau,  with  the  permission  of  the  War  Department, 
opened  up  a  big  tent  show  in  the  little  gully  at  the  foot  of  In- 
fantry Hill,  and  there,  seven  nights  a  week,  the  New  England 


38  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

soldiers  could  find  up-to-date  entertainment  for  about  one 
fifth  of  what  it  would  cost  them  in  the  city.  Besides  this  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  had  a  movie  show  almost  every  night,  and  various 
societies  and  companies  were  coming  to  camp  several  times  a 
week  to  provide  entertainment  for  the  boys. 

Many  things  were  planned,  of  course,  that  never  were  real- 
ized, but  the  spirit  that  started  the  planning  to  do  for  these 
boys  was  what  counted.  The  spirit  manifested  by  the  folks  at 
home  was  admirable,  but  there  was  plenty  of  it  in  the  army, 
too.  For  instance,  quite  a  chunk  of  it  was  found  right  in  the 
Regimental  Headquarters  of  the  301st  Infantry,  the  Boston 
Regiment,  when  Colonel  Frank  Tompkins  took  out  his  own 
check  book  and  wrote  out  a  check  to  provide  two  Ford  motor 
trucks  for  his  regiment,  solely  so  his  men  could  get  their  uni- 
forms and  other  supplies  more  quickly  than  by  waiting  their 
turn  at  the  big  army  trucks.  That  spirit  was  what  built  up 
the  fighting  spirit  in  the  men. 

"When  we  seen  the  'old  man'  do  that  for  us,  we  just  felt  that 
it  was  up  to  us  to  do  a  little  somethin'  for  the  army  ourselves, " 
was  the  way  one  "rookie"  put  it. 

September  15  was  one  of  the  happiest  days  at  Camp  Devens, 
at  least  for  the  few  men  who  were  there.  And  it  might  be 
added  that  there  were  many  days  that  were  far  from  sad.  But 
it  was  on  that  day  that  the  New  England  men  already  stationed 
at  the  cantonment  received  their  first  big  war  weapons. 

About  4:  30  in  the  afternoon  Colonel  Arthur  S.  Conklin, 
commander  of  the  303d  Heavy  Field  Artillery,  received  word 
from  the  quartermaster  that  a  train  had  just  pulled  into  the 
Camp  Devens  siding  with  some  guns  for  his  regiment.  Like  a 
flash  the  word  went  down  the  line,  and  with  yells  of  glee  just 
about  every  man  then  in  the  regiment  made  a  rush  toward 
Headquarters.  They  were  all  anxious  for  a  sight  of  the  war 
weapons,  and  most  of  them  wanted  to  share  in  the  honor  of 
unloading  the  first  artillery  to  arrive  at  the  camp. 

But,  as  it  was  later  proven  in  this  new  army  of  ours,  there 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  39 

was  always  some  particular  man  who  was  best  fitted  for  any 
job  that  might  put  in  its  appearance  at  camp,  and  this  time  it 
was  William  F.  Cronin  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  who 
was  called  upon.  He  had  been  with  the  Barnum  and  Bailey 
Circus  and  was  used  to  unloading  ponderous  equipment 
from  cars. 

"Can  you  get  those  guns  off  for  us?"  he  was  asked. 

"Sure,"  smiled  he,  "if  you'll  give  me  men  enough." 

There  was  no  difficulty  about  that.  Every  man  in  the 
regiment  wanted  to  have  a  hand  in  the  work,  supper  or  no 
supper.  So  about  a  hundred  of  them  started  in  the  direction 
of  the  quartermaster's  tracks,  and  there,  looking  rather  omi- 
nous to  them,  were  four  three-inch  field  pieces,  a  complete 
battery  of  field  guns,  lying  on  four  fiat  cars. 

There  were  fully  a  hundred  men  in  the  party  that  helped  get 
those  guns  off  the  cars.  They  will  tell  you  all  about  it.  It  was 
"the  thrill  that  comes  once  in  a  life  time."  Under  Cronin's 
direction  runners  were  placed  against  the  cars.  The  pieces 
were  unlashed  and  swung  around.  Then  it  was  a  yell  of  "  Let 
'er  go,  Gallagher, "  and  down  they  rolled,  the  gleeful  "  rookies  " 
clinging  to  the  tongue  of  the  caisson,  and  away  they  went  with 
them  up  through  the  cantonment  to  the  Headquarters  Com- 
pany of  the  303d,  where  the  pieces  were  lined  up  for  the  awed 
inspection  of  the  rest  of  the  camp. 

And  on  the  same  day  the  comparatively  few  members  of  the 
301st  Infantry — Boston's  Own  Regiment — were  feeling  pretty 
chirky,  too.  For  they  had  gone  through  their  first  inspection 
by  a  general,  Brigadier-General  F.  H.  AUbright.  Their  officers 
were  a  little  nervous,  too,  but  when  it  was  all  over  everybody 
was  happy,  including  the  general.  For,  although  he  was  a 
Regular  Army  officer  and  accustomed  to  inspecting  trained 
soldiers,  he  had  used  such  words  as  "vim  and  snap,"  and 
"eagerness  and  willingness"  in  describing  the  showing  of  these 
soldiers  of  less  than  ten  days,  and  it  meant  a  lot  to  them. 

But  the  biggest  task  so  far  was  approaching.     The  "first 


40  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

forty  per  cent"  was  due  to  arrive  at  Camp  Devens  on  Septem- 
ber 19 — or  at  least  the  first  part  of  that  contingent  was  due  on 
that  date — some  20,000  men,  a  multitude  compared  to  the 
number  that  had  already  arrived,  and  the  transportation  of 
these  men  as  well  as  the  caring  for  them  as  fast  as  they  arrived 
was  a  problem  that  was  taking  much  of  the  attention  of  the 
authorities. 

According  to  the  schedule  announced  three  days  before  these 
men  were  due  to  start,  the  men  from  Maine,  New  Hampshire 
and  Rhode  Island  were  to  come  in  on  the  19th,  more  than  5,000 
of  them  in  all.  On  the  20th  4,390  men  from  Connecticut  were 
to  come.  Massachusetts,  exclusive  of  Boston,  was  to  send 
6,021  on  the  third  day,  and  on  the  fourth  day  northern  New 
York  State  was  to  send  2,330.  On  the  fifth  day  the  city  of 
Boston  was  to  send  2,029,  and  then  the  movement  would  be 
completed. 

This  plan  of  transporting  the  men  was  drawn  up  by  the 
American  Railway  Association  and  approved  by  the  military 
authorities.  The  governor  of  each  of  the  states  involved  also 
placed  the  seal  of  his  approval  on  the  plan,  and  so  arrangements 
for  the  reception  of  these  men  were  made  on  that  basis.  And 
the  men  already  at  camp — the  first  five  per  cent — were  called 
upon  to  help  get  ready  to  receive  their  friends,  which  duty  they 
performed  with  a  will. 

Almost  simultaneously  came  the  announcement  of  the  plans 
for  the  placing  in  the  division  of  the  men  who  were  to  come. 
The  policy  started  on  the  arrival  of  the  first  five  per  cent  was 
to  be  pursued  right  through  the  draft,  according  to  the  indica- 
tions, and  men  from  the  same  localities  were  to  be  placed  in 
the  same  or  adjacent  organizations. 

For  Massachusetts,  in  the  first  forty  per  cent,  the  following 
arrangement  of  the  men  was  announced : 

Men  from  To  the 

Adams  Depot  Brigade 

Arlington  301st  Artillery 


FORGING  THE  SWORD 


41 


Men  from 
Belmont 
Beverly 
Boston 
Brookline 
Braintree 
Brookfield 
Brockton 
Cambridge 
Chelsea 
Concord 
Chicopee 
Deerfield 
Everett 

East  Bridgewater 
Fall  River 
Fairhaven 
Fitchburg 
Franklin 
Framingham 
Gardner 
Gloucester 
Hudson 
Holyoke 
Haverhill 
Ipswich 
Leominster 
Lee 
Lowell 
Lynn 
Lawrence 
Maiden 
Medford 
Marblehead 
Melrose 
Maynard 
Milford 
Milton 
Norwood 
Newton 

North  Attleboro 
New  Bedford 


To  the 

301st  Artillery 

301st  Artillery 

301st  Infantry 

301st  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

Depot  Brigade 

Supply  Train 

301st  Infantry 

301st  Infantry 

301st  Artillery 

Depot  Brigade 

Depot  Brigade 

301st  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

Supply  Train 

302d  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

Headquarters  Train 

302d  Machine  Gun  Battalion 

Ammunition  Train 

Depot  Brigade 

302d  Machine  Gun  Battalion 

302d  Machine  Gun  Battalion 

Headquarters  Train 

Depot  Brigade 

Headquarters  Troop 

301st  Artillery 

301st  Field  Signal  Battalion 

301st  Artillery 

301st  Artillery 

301st  Artillery 

301st  Artillery 

Ammunition  Train 

Ammunition  Train 

302d  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 


42 


FORGING  THE  SWORD 


Men  from 

Newburyport 

North  Easton 

North  Adams 

Northampton 

Northfield 

Plymouth 

Peabody 

Pittsfield 

Quincy 

Rockland 

Sagamore 

Stoneham 

Somerville 

Springfield 

Salem 

Southbridge 

Tewksbury 

Taunton 

Winthrop 

Waltham 

Ware 

Westfield 

Wilbraham 

Winchendon 

Worcester 


To  the 

302d  Machine  Gun  Battalion 

302 d  Infantry 

Depot  Brigade 

Depot  Brigade 

Depot  Brigade 

302d  Infantry 

301st  Artillery 

Depot  Brigade 

302d  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

302d  Infantry 

301st  Artillery 

301st  Artillery 

Depot  Brigade 

301st  Artillery 

Headquarters  Train 

302d  Machine  Gun  Battalion 

302d  Infantry 

301st  Infantry 

301st  Artillery 

Depot  Brigade 

Depot  Brigade 

Depot  Brigade 

Depot  Brigade 

Ammunition  Train. 


While,  of  course,  these  were  not  the  only  towns  and  cities  in 
Massachusetts  to  send  men  to  Devens  in  the  first  forty  per  cent, 
they  marked  the  centers  from  which  the  men  were  to  come, 
and  the  men  from  the  cities  and  towns  surrounding  these 
places  were  sent  to  the  same  organizations.  As  has  often  been 
stated,  it  was  this  arrangement  of  grouping  men  from  the  same 
localities  in  the  same  or  adjacent  units  that  went  far  in  main- 
taining the  morale  at  the  beginning  of  our  part  in  the  war  at 
the  high  scale  it  attained. 

As  this  program  for  sending  men  by  the  thousands  unfolded, 
some  of  the  older  and  more  experienced  officers  began  to  have 
their  doubts  as  to  how  the  thousands  were  to  be  housed,  large 
as  the  cantonment  was.     But  the  War  Department  provided 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  43 

for  all  that.  For  before  the  arrival  of  the  20,000  men  during 
the  five  days,  September  19  to  24,  came  the  announcement 
from  Washington  that  another  $1,000,000  was  to  be  spent  at 
Camp  Devens  on  additional  barracks.  And  those  who  had 
already  seen  the  cantonment  gasped,  while  those  who  had  not 
seen  it  began  to  do  some  wondering  about  what  kind  of  a  place 
this  could  be,  where  $1 ,000,000  could  be  spent  so  easily.  They 
had  other  gasps  coming  to  them,  however,  for  still  more  millions 
were  to  be  spent  before  Devens  was  what  it  afterwards  became. 

Through  it  all  these  veterans  of  ten  days  were  preparing  for 
the  coming  thousands.  They  had  already  learned  to  speak  of 
the  coming  forty  per  cent  as  "  rookies, "  but  it  is  not  on  record 
that  any  of  these  ten-day  soldiers  had  gone  quite  so  far  as  to 
term  themselves  "veterans. "  Their  preparations  consisted  of 
cleaning  up  barracks  that  were  as  yet  unoccupied.  The  offi- 
cers had  been  busy  among  their  men  instilling  into  them  the 
belief  that  theirs  was  the  best  regiment  in  the  division,  a  verbal 
food  which  the  "veterans"  digested  joyously  and  with  a  gusto. 

And  then  came  a  bombshell.  Not  literally,  of  course,  but 
to  some  of  the  men  it  might  almost  as  well  have  been.  On 
September  18  orders  came  from  Washington  to  transfer  500 
of  the  comparatively  few  men  at  Devens  to  other  regiments 
already  formed  at  Massachusetts  and  other  New  England 
camps.  These  "rookies"  were  going  to  fill  gaps  in  various 
regiments  of  Edwards'  26th  (Yankee)  Division,  which  was  just 
about  ready  to  go  overseas. 

Some  Massachusetts  men  went  to  B oxford,  others  to  Fram- 
ingham  and  still  others  to  Westfield;  Maine,  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont  men  went  to  Westfield;  Connecticut  men  went 
back  to  their  home  state,  to  Camp  Yale  at  New  Haven.  The 
orders  came  through  to  each  regiment  to  have  their  men  ready 
in  an  hour  and  a  half.  Five  minutes  later  it  was  changed  so 
that  they  were  to  have  their  men  ready  in  an  hour.  And  so 
they  hustled.  The  men  were  to  be  seen  all  over  the  canton- 
ment, pouring  out  of  their  barracks,  some  in  full  uniform,  some 


44  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

in  half  military  and  half  civilian  clothes  and  many  still  clad 
completely  in  "  civies. " 

Frantically  they  gathered  their  belongings  together  and  as 
soon  as  the  last  man  from  each  company  was  ready  they  went 
straggling  along  the  six  rough  roads  that  led  to  Post  Office 
Square,  in  the  center  of  the  camp.  From  there  they  proceeded 
to  the  quartermaster  tracks  and  boarded  trains. 

It  would  be  equally  untrue  to  say  that  they  were  happy  or 
that  they  were  sad.  Some  were  pleased  and  some  weren't. 
There  was  the  spice  of  adventure  about  their  sudden  move- 
ment, and  nearly  every  one  of  them  knew  in  his  heart  that  he 
was  headed  for  an  early  trip  across  the  Atlantic.  The  Connect- 
icut men  were  frankly  pleased  that  they  were  "going  back  to 
God's  country,"  but  many  a  man  was  sad  that  he  was  not 
going  to  be  on  hand  to  greet  the  thousands  who  were  due  to 
arrive  on  the  morrow. 

These  were  the  first  troops  to  leave  Camp  Devens,  just 
thirteen  days  after  their  arrival.  Before  the  "buddies"  they 
left  behind  had  really  earned  the  right  to  call  themselves 
soldiers,  this  little  group  of  500  men  had  landed  with  the 
Yankee  Division  on  foreign  soil,  and  today  some  of  them  are 
sleeping  there,  having  paid  the  full  price  of  patriotism. 


Chapter  VI 
"THE   FIRST   FORTY   PER   CENT" 

The  coming  of  the  first  forty  per  cent  of  the  first  New 
England  quota  to  Camp  Devens  was  the  most  inspiring  sight 
of  the  early  days  of  America's  part  in  the  war.  There  was 
no  secrecy  connected  with  the  event.  It  was  one  of  the  few 
things  that  we  were  all  warned  about  and  given  an  opportunity 
to  watch. 

And  we  were  not  the  only  ones  to  watch  it,  for,  just  as  the 
first  thousands  were  reaching  the  cantonment  at  which  they 
were  to  receive  their  military  training,  through  the  long  lines 
of  husky  youngsters  stretching  from  the  cantonment  gate 
clear  down  the  road  toward  Ayer  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
see,  a  foreign  potentate,  a  visitor  to  the  United  States  from 
the  Orient,  was  carried  into  Camp  -Devens.  And  so  the 
coming  of  the  "first  forty  per  cent"  to  Devens  served  as  some- 
thing of  a  promise  to  one  of  our  Allies. 

Viscount  Ishii,  head  of  the  visiting  mission  from  Japan,  was 
in  New  England  on  an  official  visit,  and  no  visit  to  New  Eng- 
land during  the  war  could  be  called  in  any  measure  complete 
without  a  sight  of  the  New  England  National  Army  canton- 
ment, one  of  the  finest  and  biggest  in  the  country. 

Riding  with  Major-General  Hodges,  the  cantonment  com- 
mander, and  personally  attended  by  Ambassador  Sata,  the 
Japanese  representative  at  Washington,  the  head  of  the 
Japanese  mission  watched  with  amazement  how  quickly  and 
quietly  and  happily  and  smoothly  this  never-ending  stream 
of  young  men  flowed  into  the  military  service  in  answer  to 
the  call  of  democracy.  In  the  automobile  with  Viscount 
Ishii  and  General  Hodges  was  Mayor  James  M.  Curley  of 
Boston. 

45 


46  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

With  eager  interest  the  Japanese  nobleman  questioned 
General  Hodges  about  the  cantonment  and  the  system  of 
inducting  the  men  into  the  service.  Their  activities  of  the 
past  few  days  had  somewhat  worn  out  the  visitors,  but  this 
sight  of  thousands  of  young  giants  arriving  to  throw  themselves 
into  the  fight  revived  them,  and  their  expressions  of  surprise 
and  pleasure  were  good  to  hear.  With  General  Hodges  they 
made  a  tour  of  the  cantonment,  noting  every  detail  of  the 
huge  machine  that  so  soon  was  to  turn  out  the  best  fighting 
men  in  the  world,  and  before  they  left  they  congratulated  their 
soldier  host  on  the  marvelous  things  that  were  being  accom- 
plished. The  picture  of  New  England  that  they  carried  away 
with  them  was  the  picture  of  a  country  militant,  a  country 
burning  with  patriotism  and  of  men  filled  with  a  resolve  to  do 
their  duty  with  every  atom  of  energy  and  strength  that  filled 
their  strong  young  bodies. 

On  September  19  there  were  2,127  men  due  to  come  into 
camp.  They  were  the  quotas  from  Maine,  Rhode  Island, 
Vermont  and  part  of  New  Hampshire.  Because  of  the 
distance  they  had  to  travel,  few  got  in  before  noon.  It  was 
not  until  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  that  they  really  began  to 
arrive,  but  then  they  came  fast. 

Vermont  was  the  first  in  on  this  day — 420  lean,  husky  lads 
of  pure  old  New  England  stock,  the  very  best  kind  of  soldiers 
we  had.  They  went  through  the  "receiving  mill"  in  the 
smoothest  manner  imaginable  and  were  assigned  to  the  302d 
Field  Artillery.  The  first  detachment  came  from  Bennington 
County,  57  of  them,  headed  by  Benjamin  D.  Cleveland  of 
Manchester,  an  old  5th  Massachusetts  Militia  man.  Each 
group  of  men  had  some  member  of  the  group  in  charge. 
Usually  this  leader  was  appointed  either  by  the  draft  board  or 
the  men  themselves  before  they  left  their  home  towns. 

New  Hampshire  was  the  next.  There  were  only  97  men  in 
this  group,  but  they  came  in  with  spirit  enough  for  10,000. 
A  few  of  them  were  from  Berlin,  and  they  bore  signs  announ- 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  47 

cing  what  they  were  going  to  do  when  they  reached  a  certain 
other  Berlin  that  was  rather  well  known.  These  signs  the 
men  carried — there  were  few  contingents  to  arrive  without 
them — furnished  one  of  the  most  interesting  sidelights  in  the 
whole  interesting  spectacle. 

These  lads  had  received  the  greatest  send-off  in  the  history 
of  the  country.  They  had  been  banqueted  and  showered  with 
gifts,  extolled  and  praised  and  glorified  and  sent  away  on  the 
crest  of  a  wave  of  enthusiasm  and  patriotism  that  did  not 
diminish  for  days.  The  New  Hampshire  and  Maine  and 
Vermont  men  showed  that  as  soon  as  they  arrived,  and  the 
same  was  true  of  the  Rhode  Islanders,  who  arrived  later  in  the 
day.  The  Maine  men,  727  strong,  all  decorated  with  various 
kinds  of  badges  and  streamers  and  armbands,  travelled  on 
special  cars.  They  were  seven  hours  late  reaching  Ayer,  but 
that  didn't  matter  to  them.  Better  late  than  never  was  their 
attitude,  and  they  marched  happily  away  to  the  303d  Heavy 
Artillery,  there  to  join  the  New  Hampshire  men. 

Rhode  Island  came  in  with  a  rush ;  884  men  destined  for  the 
301st  Engineers.  They  were  headed  by  James  L.  Doherty, 
a  former  policeman.  Each  man  wore  a  white  armband 
bearing  the  letters  "N.  A."  in  red. 

They  were  swallowed  by  Camp  Devens  just  as  swiftly  as 
were  their  predecessors.  It  was  incredible — the  smoothness 
with  which  the  receiving  machinery  worked.  It  almost 
seemed  that  there  was  no  limit  to  the  number  of  men  that 
could  be  handled  by  these  few  officers  and  the  clerks  in  the 
seven  little  booths  on  the  receiving  field. 

The  Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  delegation  came  by 
automobile,  35  machines  stretching  out  into  a  sizeable  column. 
They  didn't  arrive  until  the  morning  of  September  20.  They 
were  accompanied  by  Mayor  Spaulding  of  Manchester,  and 
their  cars  were  loaded  down  with  gifts  from  their  friends  and 
relatives  who  had  watched  the  procession  start  off. 

A  few  more  men  from  Maine  continued  to  straggle  in  on  the 


48  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

20th,  and  among  them  was  Vladek  Cyganiewiez,  better  known 
to  sport  lovers  as  Zbyszko,  heavy  weight  wrestler  of  world- 
wide reputation.  Soon  after  his  arrival,  however,  his  six  feet 
and  232  pounds  of  brawn  and  muscle  was  pushing  a  broom 
in  his  company  barracks.  Such  was  life  in  this  army  of 
democracy ! 

The  Connecticut  men  came  on  the  20th,  4,000  of  them. 
And  the  first  1,000  got  a  taste  of  what  seemed  to  be  real  war 
weather,  for  they  arrived  in  pouring  rain  and  had  to  march 
about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  through  mud  and  water  that  might 
well  have  rivaled  the  famous  Flanders  mud.  They  were 
assigned  to  the  304th  Infantry,  the  301st  and  302d  Machine 
Gun  Battalions  and  to  the  302d  Field  Artillery. 

Massachusetts'  thousands  began  to  arrive  at  9  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  September  21.  The  first  to  reach  Devens 
came  in  automobiles.  They  came  from  the  nearby  towns  of 
Leominster,  Clinton  and  Lancaster.  Then  came  the  men 
from  Arlington  and  Winchester,  headed  by  Chief  of  Police 
Urquhart  of  Arlington.  In  the  Winchester  quota  was 
Herbert  W.  Kelley,  famous  Harvard  quarter-miler,  a  gunny- 
sack  slung  over  his  shoulder,  his  shirt  open  at  the  throat. 

Then  came  427  men  from  Fall  River  and  291  from  New 
Bedford.  They  had  brought  brass  bands  with  them,  and 
from  their  appearance  the  bandmen  had  been  working  ever 
since  they  left  their  respective  cities.  As  soon  as  these  men 
had  passed  through  the  receiving  booths,  they  fell  in  behind 
their  bands  and  were  played  up  through  the  camp  to  their 
barracks  to  the  tune  of  "Where  Do  We  Go  from  Here?" 

That  was  the  spirit  of  the  men.  Too  much  can't  be  said 
about  that  quality.  They  knew  that  this  was  only  the  first 
stop  on  the  new  adventure  they  had  undertaken.  They  wanted 
action  and  they  wanted  it  quick.  The  camp  was  filling  up 
fast  and,  with  all  this  pep  and  snap  and  ginger  just  bubbling 
out  of  its  occupants,  something  was  due  to  happen  pretty 
soon. 


h 

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Lt.-Col.  Romeyn 


Col.  Arnold 
(killed  in  France) 


Maj.  Waldo 


Maj.  Collins 


Photo  by  Sarony 

Chap.  Edwin  A.  Flynn 


Maj.  Carpenter 


Maj.  Hadley 


Maj.  Porter 


Maj.  Stebbins 


"Chow!"     It  Didn't  Taste  so  Bad  After  a  Day  Spent  as  Below 


For  the  Boys  Even  Had  to  Break  Out  Their  Own  Roads  in  Winter 


Lt,-Col.  Sinxlair 


Maj.  Barlow 


Maj.  Homer  Gage 


Capt.  Scannell  Chap.  M.J.  L\nch  Capt.  E.  C.  Edwards 


Sgt.  F.  X.  Beckwith  Chap.  T.  F.  Lynch  Sgt.  "  Bill  "  Cunningham. 


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FORGING  THE  SWORD  49 

It  is  impossible,  of  course,  to  set  down  just  how  each  indi- 
vidual city  or  town  quota  came  in.  It  was  all  about  the  same, 
the  biggest  holiday  event  in  the  lives  of  the  men  who  were 
entering  the  service,  to  all  appearances.  Everybody  was 
wondering  at  it  and  at  the  lack  of  friction  that  marked  the 
mobilization  of  New  England.  Nothing  but  the  best  of  good 
nature,  accompanied  by  the  heartiest  co-operation  from  the 
men  themselves,  was  to  be  seen. 

Mayor  Foss  of  Fitchburg  led  in  more  than  50  men  from  his 
city  at  II:  15,  and  almost  simultaneously  there  arrived  hun- 
dreds from  Worcester,  Lowell  and  Lawrence. 

Mayor  Ben  Haines  of  Medford  came  in  proudly  with  28 
men.  He  only  should  have  brought  20,  but  he  declared  that 
eight  others  insisted  on  coming  at  once  and  they  threatened  to 
walk  if  Mayor  Haines  wouldn't  bring  them  along.  So  he  did, 
and  they  were  accepted  and  allowed  to  stay.  And  they  called 
that  drafting  an  army ! 

Framingham  came  in  shortly  after  i ,  to  be  followed  imme- 
diately by  the  Waltham  quota,  in  charge  of  Elliott  Frost,  well- 
known  captain  of  a  Yale  crew.  Cambridge  and  Somerville 
came  in  on  the  same  train  and  at  the  cantonment  entrance 
they  were  met  by  Lieutenant  Brennan,  who  knew  personally 
many  of  the  men  and  who  was  greeted  by  them  as  "Jim." 

And  so  it  went ;  something  extremely  interesting  about  the 
arrival  of  each  contingent.  From  all  parts  of  New  England 
long  railroad  trains  were  rushing,  bearing  their  human  freight 
to  Camp  Devens,  where  that  freight  was  shortly  to  be  trans- 
formed into  a  formidable  fighting  machine.  But  they  came 
gaily,  the  sides  of  the  railroad  cars  bearing  chalked  challenges 
to  the  Kaiser  and  his  brood,  and  their  hearts  filled  with  the 
desire  to  be  of  service. 

Massachusetts,  having  much  shorter  distances  to  be  covered, 
came  in  so  fast  that  sometimes  there  were  as  many  as  1,500 
men  massed  together  on  the  receiving  field.  But  they  didn't 
have  very  long  to  wait,  as  a  rule,  before  they  were  hustled  off 


50  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

to  the  regimental  area  to  which  they  had  been  assigned,  there 
to  be  greeted  by  the  "veterans"  of  two  weeks  and  to  be  wel- 
comed into  the  fold  of  the  family  that  was  known  as  the  76th 
Division. 

The  delegation  from  Tewksbury,  Methuen,  Chelmsford  and 
Dracut  rather  lifted  the  receiving  officers,  used  as  they  were 
by  now  to  the  unexpected,  off  their  feet.  Led  by  Captain 
Peter  F.  Graham  of  Methuen,  a  Massachusetts  State  Guard 
officer,  71  men  from  these  four  towns  marched  onto  the  receiv- 
ing field  in  column  of  fours,  in  good  military  step,  snapped  into 
"company  front,"  right  dressed  and  stood  rigidly  at  attention 
while  their  papers  were  being  gone  over  by  the  receiving 
officers.  Then,  very  gravely,  they  broke  into  a  column  again 
and  marched  away  to  their  barracks.  And  General  Hodges, 
standing  on  the  sidelines,  watched  it  all  with  a  gleam  in  his 
eye  that  could  not  by  the  worst  cynic  be  construed  as  anything 
but  sheer  delight. 

There  was  only  one  feature  of  the  arrival  of  these  men  that 
in  any  way  approached  the  semblance  of  a  farewell.  Seventy 
Lexington,  Belmont  and  Watertown  men  had  been  addressed 
that  morning  on  Lexington  Green  by  Governor  McCall. 
Then  they  came  to  camp,  accompanied  by  Judge  A.  P.  Stone, 
James  H.  Vahey  and  other  prominent  men.  As  they  left  the 
automobiles  and  started  for  the  receiving  booths,  the  judge 
and  his  associates  went  down  the  line  shaking  every  man  by 
the  hand  and  wishing  him  good  luck  and  bon  voyage  on  his 
trip  to  Berlin. 

Saturday,  the  22d,  saw  more  men  coming  in  and  some  going 
out.  The  men  coming  in  were  from  New  York  State,  2,300  of 
them,  and  those  going  out  from  New  Hampshire,  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut,  25  from  each  state.  These  were  sent 
to  Boxford,  there  to  become  members  of  the  26th  Division, 
instead  of  the  76th  as  they  had  expected.  Their  going  caused 
considerable  excitement  in  camp,  as  it  began  to  look  to  many 
as  though  immediate  overseas  service  was  in  store  for  most  of 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  51 

the  men  who  came  in.  These  75  men  went  out  to  their  new 
duties  clad  in  civiHan  clothes,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  here 
and  there  who  had  parts  of  the  regulation  uniform. 

And  General  Hodges  saw  them  go,  too,  and  he  hated  to  lose 
them.  He  felt  that  he  didn't  want  to  lose  sight  of  a  single 
one  of  these  young  men  who  were  so  rapidly  pouring  in, 
oflfering  themselves  to  him  to  be  turned  into  soldiers.  Talking 
to  newspaper  men  the  general  declared  all  these  things  and 
added  that  he  was  greatly  pleased  at  the  generous  manner  in 
which  New  England  was  prepared  to  look  after  them. 

Sunday,  the  23d,  was  one  of  the  biggest  days  in  the  history 
of  the  camp  up  to  that  time.  Not  only  because  the  Boston 
men  were  coming  in  nearly  1,600  strong  on  that  day,  but 
because  100,000  visitors  were  there  to  see  for  themselves  how 
the  men  of  New  England  were  mobilizing  for  war  service. 

And  so,  on  this  Sunday  afternoon,  more  than  1,500  city  lads 
arrived,  shouting,  singing,  cheering,  attended  by  relatives  and 
friends  and  by  just  about  every  small  boy  in  the  vicinity  of 
Ayer  village.  Along  roads  that  were  black  with  automobiles 
and  pedestrians  they  came,  crowding  their  way  through  to  get 
into  the  army.  They  knew  that  they  were  all  destined  for 
the  same  regiment,  Boston's  Own — the  301st  Infantry — and 
they  were  excited  and  happy  about  it.  Also,  they  were 
anxious  for  a  sight  of  the  man  who  was  to  command  them, 
Colonel  Frank  Tompkins. 

They  knew  something  about  him  before  they  ever  thought 
of  getting  into  the  army.  They  had  heard  of  how  this  dash- 
ing cavalry  officer  had  run  Pancho  Villa  all  over  Mexico  and 
how  he  had  been  wounded  during  the  chase  across  that  hell  of 
burning  desert  sands.  He  was  their  hero  before  they  ever  saw 
him,  and  he  remained  so  until  the  end  of  the  war,  in  which  he 
was  to  be  badly  gassed  by  the  Germans. 

And  Colonel  Tompkins  was  watching  these  rnen  who 
were  to  be  his  come  into  camp.  He  sat  on  the  top  of  a 
big  boulder  and  saw  them  piling  into  the  barracks  that  had 


52  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

been  set  aside  for  the  301st  Infantry.     And  he  smiled  as  he 
looked  on. 

"Lord,  but  Boston  ought  to  be  proud  of  these  boys,"  he 
said;  "and  she  will  be,  too,  or  I'll  miss  a  guess." 

Western  Massachusetts  sent  in  men  that  Sunday,  too,  and 
they  all  went  to  the  Depot  Brigade.  More  men  went  out  on 
the  same  day,  bound  for  the  country  from  which  the  up-state 
men  had  come.  Two  hundred  of  them  went  to  Westfield, 
Massachusetts,  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the  104th  Infantry. 
They  had  been  in  camp  only  a  matter  of  hours,  but  all  but  34 
of  them  went  away  in  uniform.  That's  how  fast  things  were 
beginning  to  move  at  Camp  Devens. 

There  were  now  approximately  20,600  men  in  camp,  a  size- 
able group  on  which  to  begin  work.  Of  these  only  about  2,000 
were  Regulars.  The  rest  were  green,  as  regards  military 
matters.  But  on  Monday  morning  steps  were  taken  toward 
the  elimination  of  the  verdant  hue.  Training  was  started. 
The  officers  began  teaching  the  men  how  to  march  and  in  this 
way  they  combined  the  preliminary  training  with  the  harden- 
ing-up  process. 

The  "rookies"  liked  it,  too.  They  sang  as  they  marched 
and  they  were  positively  hoggish  for  information  and  detailed 
instruction.  They  were  eating  like  horses,  too,  some  of  them 
getting  better  chow  and  more  of  it  than  they  had  ever  had 
before  in  all  their  lives,  and  they  started  to  fill  out  and  get 
husky  and  brown  and  healthy. 

Just  the  daily  consumption  of  food  was  a  staggering  item 
for  people  who  were  unused  to  operations  on  such  a  large  scale. 
Each  day  these  men  were  consuming,  among  other  things,  the 
following : 

Flour 21,375  pounds 

Beef 16,638  pounds 

Bacon 4,270  pounds 

Baking  powder 95  pounds 

Baked  beans 1.425  pounds 

Rice 1,450  pounds 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  53 

Potatoes 1 1,450  pounds 

Onions 4,250  pounds 

Tomatoes 1,184  pounds 

Prunes 500  pounds 

Jam 1 ,000  pounds 

Coffee 1 ,500  pounds 

Butter.  ., 2,000  pounds 

Milk 700  quarts 

And  yet  this  huge  daily  consumption  didn't  even  make  a 
visible  impression  on  the  vast  store  that  was  kept  on  hand. 
Colonel  Dal  ton,  the  division  quartermaster,  announced  that 
they  could  send  the  men  to  Devens  just  as  fast  as  they  pleased, 
so  far  as  the  food  for  them  was  concerned,  as  he  proposed  to 
keep  one  full  week's  supply  of  all  commodities  for  43,000  men 
ahead  at  all  times.  And  he  did  it,  and  the  boys  grew  fat  and 
hard  and  husky. 


Chapter  VII 
TRAINING   BEGINS 

The  arrival  of  the  first  20,000  was  followed  by  a  settling 
down  process.  Courses  of  training  were  mapped  out  in  detail 
by  unit  commanders,  and  the  young  officers  started  to  learn 
bayonet  fighting  under  the  tutelage  of  Major  Reginald  Barlow, 
then  of  the  302d  Infantry,  but  previously  of  the  British  Army, 
with  which  he  fought  in  South  Africa  during  the  Boer  War. 

The  sorting  out  of  the  men  began,  too,  for  it  was  not  the 
purpose  of  this  army  to  try  to  fit  square  pegs  into  round  holes, 
and  if  a  man  was  in  the  infantry  when  better  fitted  for  the 
artillery  the  authorities  wanted  to  know  about  it.  They  found 
out,  too,  and  shifted  the  men  around,  never  losing  sight  of  the 
fact  that  men  were  to  be  kept,  in  so  far  as  it  was  possible,  in 
outfits  made  up  of  men  from  their  own  particular  corner  of 
New  England.  In  this  sorting-out  process  each  man  was 
questioned  individually  regarding  his  previous  experience  in 
every  line  of  work,  and  with  the  full  history  of  the  man  before 
them  the  officers  decided  where  he  could  render  the  most 
efficient  service. 

A  spirit  of  competition  was  started  among  the  various  outfits 
soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  "first  forty  per  cent."  Brigadier- 
General  F.  H.  AUbright,  commander  of  the  151st  Infantry 
Brigade,  held  an  inspection  one  morning  of  the  men  who  had  so 
far  been  assigned  to  him.  It  was  a  nervous  morning  for  the 
men  and  officers  both,  but  they  came  through  it  in  admirable 
style.  The  general  looked  over  each  man  individually.  And 
then — he  complimented  them!  And  they  were  the  happiest 
young  animals  to  be  found  in  fourteen  counties. 

The  brigade  was  then  put  through  its  paces,  company  by 
company,  and  when  it  was  all  over  Company  E,  of  the  301st 

54 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  55 

Infantry,  was  adjudged  the  best  outfit  insofar  as  that  morn- 
ing's work  was  concerned.  That  was  what  started  the  com- 
petition, and  the  men  of  other  companies  settled  down  to  work 
like  beavers  to  wrest  from  Company  E  the  "title,"  as  they 
were  pleased  to  term  it.  It  was  fast  music  after  that,  and  the 
"title"  passed  from  company  to  company  so  fast  that  before 
long  it  was  impossible  to  tell  which  was  really  entitled  to  it  or 
whether  any  individual  outfit  was. 

After  he  had  watched  that  brigade  of  his  working  out  for 
a  while  General  AUbright  one  day  calmly  announced  that 
these  men  were  shaping  up  so  well  that  he  was  convinced  that 
they  would  "be  as  good  as  Regulars"  when  they  were  fully 
trained.     Coming  from  a  Regular  Army  man  this  meant  much. 

On  the  last  day  of  September  the  first  schools  were  started  in 
the  76th  Division,  by  order  of  General  Hodges.  There  were 
only  six  of  them,  each  school  specializing  in  some  branch  of  the 
military  service.  Later  there  were  to  be  almost  ten  times  as 
many,  but  for  a  starter  they  established  a  school  for  officers  in 
equitation,  a  school  for  stable  sergeants,  another  in  hippology 
and  veterinary  medicine,  one  for  horseshoers  and  others  for 
cobblers  and  saddlers.  Lieutenant-Colonel  N.  B.  Rehkopf  of 
the  301st  Field  Artillery  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  schools, 
with  Major  F.  B.  Edwards  as  assistant. 

The  month  of  October  saw  the  76th  Division  really  getting 
down  to  business.  Rejections  began  to  mount  up,  too,  neces- 
sitating that  other  men  be  sent  from  civilian  life  to  replace 
the  men  who  were  discarded.  There  was  much  criticism  of  the 
draft  boards  in  general,  some  of  it  unjust  and  some  of  it  not. 
It  was  inevitable  that  in  any  undertaking  of  this  magnitude 
mistakes  should  occur  and  also  that  some  parts  of  such  a 
ponderous  machine  as  the  Selective  Service  system  should 
function  with  too  much  zeal  and  not  enough  discretion. 

It  is  to  the  everlasting  credit  of  New  England,  however,  that 
by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  men  sent  to  camp  by  the  draft 
boards  were  just  the  kind  of  material  the  army  wanted — 


56  THE  FORGING  SWORD 

strong,  sturdy,  clean,  upstanding  youngsters,  full  of  patriotism 
and  fight  and  eager  to  learn  and  go  across  as  quickly  as  possible. 

There  have  been  many  events  at  Camp  Devens  that  created 
excitement  and  pleasure  and  surprise.  There  was  always 
something  unusual  going  on.  But  few  of  these  startling  events 
equaled  the  advent  of  the  first  band  to  be  formed  by  the 
National  Army  men,  pitifully  small  and  squeaky  as  it  was 
compared  with  the  magnificent  musical  organizations  that 
followed. 

The  first  band  to  be  formed  at  Camp  Devens  was  composed 
of  fifes  and  drums,  played  by  the  men  of  the  151st  Depot 
Brigade.  There  were  only  seventeen  pieces  in  the  whole 
aggregation,  but  they  played  loudly  and  proudly  enough  to 
have  been  a  combination  of  the  best  efforts  of  John  Philip 
Sousa  and  Arthur  Pryor.  Their  instruments  had  been  sup- 
plied by  the  Depot  Brigade  officers,  who  dug  down  into  their 
own  pockets  to  get  them. 

Any  member  of  that  band  can  tell  you  when  it  made  its  first 
public  appearance.  It  was  on  October  2,  and  when  it  came  out 
in  all  its  glory,  the  fact  that  a  very  pretty  race  had  been  going 
on  "underground "  became  known  also.  Shrilling  and  thump- 
ing one  of  the  three  numbers  the  members  knew,  the  band 
marched  through  the  camp.  Everything  was  serene  until  they 
came  to  the  barracks  of  the  301st  Infantry. 

Then  there  was  commotion  and  excitement,  much  of  it. 
The  Boston  men  nearly  went  crazy.  They  hooted  and  howled 
at  the  sweating,  shrilling,  pounding  Depot  Brigaders.  They 
jeered  and  yelled  and  raised  blazes  generally,  because — well,  the 
301st  were  just  about  ready  themselves  to  produce  the  "First 
National  Army  Band  at  Camp  Devens,"  and  the  disappoint- 
ment was  too  much  for  them. 

But  utterly  oblivious  to  the  torrent  of  the  sarcasm  hurled  at 
them,  the  wailing,  whistling  fifers  and  the  rumpety-tumping 
drummers  pursued  their  triumphant  way  until  they  reached 
Division  Headquarters,  where  they  apparently  got  their  second 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  57 

wind  and  nearly  demoralized  the  entire  Headquarters  staff, 
which  came  out  of  the  Headquarters  building  in  one  grand 
rush  to  see  this  miracle.  And  General  Hodges  listened,  too; 
and  he  smiled  with  pleasure.  For  his  men  were  "really  getting 
into  it." 

It  was  just  a  week  later  that  the  Boston  Regiment's  band  ap- 
peared. And,  despite  the  fact  that  they  were  running  second 
in  the  musical  race,  their  appearance  caused  even  more  excite- 
ment than  the  Depot  Brigade  fifers  had.  For  they  came  out 
with  the  first  semblance  of  a  real  military  brass  band  with  the 
courage  to  toot  its  way  through  the  regimental  streets  of  Camp 
Devens.  And  they  had  nearly  thirty  pieces,  instead  of  less 
than  twenty. 

There  were  several  famous  musicians  in  the  301st  Infantry, 
the  most  noted  being  Albert  Stoessel,  formerly  of  the  St.  Louis 
Symphony  Orchestra.  Under  the  tutelage  of  these  artists  the 
band  had  been  built  up  and  trained  to  a  point  where  they  dared 
show  themselves  together  in  the  day  time.  The  first  duty  they 
set  for  themselves  was  to  serenade  their  beloved  colonel,  Frank 
Tompkins.  It  was  supposed  to  be  a  surprise  party,  too,  and 
certainly  the  colonel  appeared  to  be  surprised  when  he  went 
out  to  greet  the  musicians,  after  they  had  offered  their  best 
efforts  in  front  of  Regimental  Headquarters. 

Sergeant  Jesse  Illingworth,  an  old  time  soldier,  had  been 
elected  leader,  and  he  was  the  proudest  man  in  all  New  England 
when  Colonel  Tompkins  took  him  by  the  hand  and  con- 
gratulated him.  The  colonel  spoke  words  of  praise  to  the 
men,  also,  and  then,  in  that  way  of  his  that  the  men  all  came 
to  love,  he  grinned  and  waved  his  hand  in  the  direction  of 
Division  Headquarters. 

"Come  on,  men,"  he  said.  "Let's  go  up  and  serenade  the 
general ;  let's  show  him  some  real  music." 

And  up  to  Headquarters  they  went,  countermarched  like 
veterans  in  front  of  the  Headquarters  offices,  and  while  Colonel 
Tompkins  went  inside  to  get  General  Hodges  they  played  as 


58  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

they  had  never  played  before,  with  every  breath  and  effort 
there  was  in  them.  If  the  memory  of  the  writer  serves  him 
correctly,  "I  Didn't  Raise  My  Boy  to  Be  a  Soldier"  was  one 
of  the  very  few  pieces  they  knew,  but  they  didn't  play  it  on 
this  occasion. 

When  they  thought  the  general  had  had  enough  they 
stopped.  The  "old  man",  went  down  and  spoke  to  them  and 
then  returned  to  Headquarters,  where  he  shook  hands  with 
Colonel  Tompkins  and  said  a  few  words  to  him. 

"He  says,  'It's  the  best  band  he  ever  heard,'  "  announced 
Colonel  Tompkins  to  the  newspaper  men  as  he  started  after  his 
band,  and  as  he  said  it  the  happy  colonel  grinned  with  pleasure. 

During  the  first  week  in  October  the  "second  forty  per  cent" 
of  New  England's  first  offering  to  the  National  Army  arrived. 
When  they  had  passed  through  the  receiving  machine  there 
were  more  than  37,000  men  in  camp,  and  the  War  Department 
started  them  on  the  regular  course  of  training  that  had  been 
mapped  out  by  the  general  staff. 

The  training  schedule  provided  seven  hours'  work  a  day 
for  the  men,  and,  with  the  exception  of  hours  spent  on  night 
marches,  and  in  night  trench  work,  in  the  various  trench  sys- 
tems that  were  built  throughout  the  cantonment,  this  plan  of 
work  was  adhered  to  while  troops  trained  at  Camp  Devens. 

The  War  Department  ordered  that  one  hour  each  day 
should  be  spent  in  calisthenics.  For  the  most  part  this  work 
was  done  in  the  early  morning.  The  301st  Ammunition  Train 
evolved  a  scheme  to  make  "Kelly's  Thenics"  a  more  popular 
form  of  diversion,  however,  for  the  band  assembled  in  front 
of  the  Train  Headquarters  each  morning,  and  after  consider- 
able drill  the  men  learned  to  go  through  their  exercises  in  per- 
fect time  to  the  music.  It  was  almost  like  dancing,  and  it 
made  one  of  the  prettiest  sights  of  the  camp,  and  thousands  of 
people  came  to  Devens  early  in  the  morning  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  watching  the  301st  Ammunition  Train. 

Three  hours  a  day,  during  the  first  week,  were  allotted  to 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  59 

infantry  drill,  one  hour  for  preliminary  training  for  target 
practice,  one-half  hour  for  conferences,  one-half  hour  for  in- 
struction in  guard  duty,  one-half  hour  for  instruction  in  the 
care  of  the  rifle  and  one-half  hour  for  inspections. 

But,  besides  all  these  forms  of  actual  military  training  pre- 
scribed by  the  War  Department,  there  were  so  many  other 
activities  that  the  days  were  mighty  full.  The  second  Liberty 
Loan  had  started  and  Colonel  E.  K.  Massee,  division  judge 
advocate,  had  been  appointed  Liberty  Loan  officer  for  the 
entire  camp.  He  set  the  quota  for  the  76th  Division  at 
$1,000,000.  It  was  his  idea  that  these  fighting  youngsters 
could  show  the  rest  of  New  England  that  they  were  not  only 
willing  to  give  their  time  and  risk  their  lives  for  Uncle  Sam,  but 
were  also  ready  and  eager  to  lend  to  him  a  goodly  percentage  of 
the  comparatively  meager  amount  the  Government  allowed 
them. 

No  sooner  had  Colonel  Massee's  purpose  been  announced 
than  the  entire  division  fell  into  step  and  set  themselves  to 
making  good  the  colonel's  promise.  It  fell  to  Sergeant-Major 
William  Augustine  Flaherty  of  the  Boston  Regiment  to  buy  the 
first  Liberty  Bond  sold  to  a  New  England  doughboy  at  Camp 
Devens.  Bill  had  been  an  actor,  playing  under  the  name  of 
William  Augustine.  His  home  was  at  30  Houston  Avenue, 
Milton,  Massachusetts.  Later  he  was  sent  to  France  to  report 
for  duty  at  Pershing's  Headquarters  and  there  he  won  his 
commission  and  was  transferred  to  the  Yankee  Division. 

Devens  did  not  neglect  sports.  Lieutenant  W.  W.  Cowgill, 
at  that  time  General  Hodges'  only  aide-de-camp,  was  made 
division  athletic  officer,  and  set  to  work  to  hunt  out  the  football 
material.  He  found  it,  scads  of  it.  Both  among  the  com- 
missioned officers  and  the  men  were  stars  from  almost  every 
college  in  the  country.  His  project  won  their  immediate  sup- 
port. The  Camp  Devens  football  team  began  to  shape  up  and 
the  spirit  spread  among  the  various  regiments  until  foot- 
balls and  baseballs  were  flying  every  spare  minute. 


6o  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Another  phase  of  the  training,  that  at  first  caused  some 
people  to  laugh  a  little,  was  the  singing  classes.  One  day  a 
man  called  Vernon  Stiles,  a  concert  singer,  appeared  at  Head- 
quarters, presented  his  credentials  and  announced  that  he  had 
been  sent  by  the  War  Department  Commission  on  Training 
Camp  Activities  to  teach  the  soldiers  at  Camp  Devens  how  to 
sing.  Some  of  the  old  and  more  hardened  army  officers  looked 
a  little  bit  astonished  and  allowed  privately  that  they  didn't 
envy  Mr.  Stiles  his  job.  It  didn't  phase  the  singer  a  bit, 
however,  and  after  the  first  few  weeks  some  of  the  skeptics  had 
the  shivers  running  up  and  down  their  backs  when  they  heard 
thousands  of  doughboys  roaring  out  the  most  inspiring  war 
music  any  nation  ever  heard. 

There  is  little  question  now  that  the  teaching  of  our  fighting 
men  to  sing  was  one  of  the  greatest  morale  builders  that  was 
produced  during  the  World  War,  It  has  been  an  army  adage 
that  "A  singing  army  is  a  fighting  army."  That  is  true. 
If  you  don't  believe  it,  ask  the  Germans.  For  ours  was  a 
singing  army. 

Then,  just  as  these  thousands  of  New  Englanders  were 
getting  into  the  swing  of  it  and  had  set  out  to  make  theirs  the 
best  division  in  the  whole  United  States  Army,  the  hard  luck 
that  followed  the  76th  Division  throughout  its  career  began  to 
show  up. 

One  day  General  Bliss,  chief  of  staff,  sent  word  from  Wash- 
ington that  the  Camp  Devens  "surplus  men"  were  to  go  to 
Georgia  to  fill  up  National  Guard  divisions  in  the  South. 
Nobody  knew  at  that  time  just  who  were  our  "surplus  men," 
as  there  were  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  first  draft  still  to  come  to 
camp. 

It  developed,  however,  that  the  negro  troops  were  to  be 
placed  in  separate  divisions,  and  because  of  the  large  colored 
population  of  the  South  many  southern  white  divisions  had 
great  gaps  in  their  ranks.  Division  Headquarters  at  Devens 
was  all  broken  up  over  the  anouncement,  but  orders  must  be 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  6i 

obeyed  and  the  men  were  sent.  In  the  meantime  there  wasn't 
a  man  in  camp  who  wasn't  worrying  about  it  and  hoping  that, 
somehow  or  other,  he  would  be  allowed  to  stay  with  the  76th. 

The  work  was  getting  all-fired  interesting  and  they  were  just 
beginning  to  know  each  other  and  to  know  their  officers. 
Bayonet  training  had  begun  and  they  were  learning  how  to  fire 
their  rifles  even  before  they  had  learned  how  to  march  and  drill. 
In  some  cases  men  were  actually  practicing  going  over  the  top 
in  the  trenches  that  had  been  constructed  in  various  corners  of 
the  camp.  And  every  battalion  in  camp  had  started  taking 
long  daily  hikes  of  five  to  eight  miles.  Tramping  through  the 
crisp  New  England  air,  over  a  gorgeous  autumn  countryside, 
with  a  hot  meal  at  noon  prepared  in  their  own  "slum  guns," 
wasn't  such  awful  hard  medicine  to  take,  after  all.  Then, 
too,  all  kinds  of  nice  things  were  to  be  had  at  Camp  Devens, 
and  one  never  knew  what  would  be  found  at  other  camps. 

The  main  building  of  the  Knights  of  Columbus  was  officially 
opened  at  Camp  Devens  on  October  12.  State  Deputy  Daniel 
J.  Gallagher,  assistant  district  attorney  of  Sufi'olk  County 
(Massachusetts)  came  up  and  delivered  an  oration,  and  the 
K.  of  C.  turned  the  building  over  to  the  men  for  their  use. 
It  had  in  it  pool  tables  and  victrolas  and  player  pianos  and 
books  and  magazines  and  a  dance  floor  and  almost  every  kind 
of  recreational  apparatus  known  to  man,  and  the  men  could 
use  all  at  any  time  they  chose.  There  was  also  a  big  boxing 
night  in  the  building  once  a  week,  as  well  as  many  other  forms 
of  entertainment,  and  everything  was  free  of  charge.  It  wasn't 
much  wonder  that  the  men  didn't  care  about  leaving  Devens. 

Something  of  a  surprise  came  early  in  October  when  volun- 
teers for  immediate  overseas  service  were  called  for.  It 
happened  that  the  men  required  were  highly  skilled  mechanics 
and  men  with  other  special  training,  but  in  some  companies, 
just  as  a  test,  it  was  announced  that  volunteers  for  immediate 
service  at  the  front  were  wanted  at  once.  Almost  invariably 
the  entire  command  stepped  forward.     The  men  selected  were 


62  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

sent  away  in  groups  of  one  hundred  or  a  little  over,  and  they 
went  so  suddenly  that  they  scarcely  had  time  to  say  goodbye  to 
their  own  "buddies,"  let  alone  to  their  families.  From  this 
time  on  the  men  continued  to  go  out  of  Camp  Devens,  destined 
for  the  most  part  for  overseas,  so  constantly  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  keep  track  of  them.  In  some  cases  men  were  in 
France  less  than  a  month  from  the  day  they  were  inducted  into 
the  service.  Frank  Sibley,  in  his  story  of  the  Yankee  Division, 
has  told  of  some  of  these  men  who  landed  with  the  Y.  D.,  and 
of  the  spirit — though  without  the  training — with  which  they 
went  into  the  fight. 


Chapter  VIII 
THE  SECRETARY   OF  WAR   COMES  TO   CAMP 

There  were  none  prouder  in  the  whole  76th  Division  on  the 
13th  of  October  than  the  men  of  the  I52d  Infantry  Brigade. 
This  was  the  first  brigade  to  get  together  in  a  single  formation 
at  Camp  Devens,  and  the  parade  and  review  was  "pulled"  so 
quietly  that  scarcely  anybody  outside  of  Brigade  Headquarters 
knew  what  was  happening  until  it  was  all  over. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  13th  General  Evans,  the  brigade 
commander,  rode  out  into  the  fall  sunshine  and  found  two  regi- 
ments, almost  up  to  full  strength,  and  a  machine  gun  battalion, 
fully  equipped,  lined  up  in  perfect  formation.  They  were  the 
303d  and  the  304th  Infantry  Regiments  and  the  303d  Machine 
Gun  Battalion.  The  regimental  band  of  the  301st  Infantry  was 
on  hand  also  and  this  band  played  the  whole  1526.  Brigade  by 
its  general  when  they  passed  in  review. 

The  effect  of  the  review  was  twofold.  It  showed  the  military 
authorities  how  swiftly  the  men  were  coming  along,  and  it 
made  the  men  realize  how  rapidly  they  were  being  developed 
into  a  real  fighting  organization.  It  had  the  effect  of  raising 
their  morale  even  higher  and  of  giving  them  a  pride  in  them- 
selves and  in  the  organizations  to  which  they  belonged  that 
could  be  obtained  in  no  other  way. 

It  was  about  this  time,  too,  that  stories  began  to  circulate 
through  New  England  regarding  Camp  Devens.  No  one 
could  possibly  believe  that  these  stories  emanated  from  the 
men  who  were  in  the  service  there,  for  even  the  inevitable 
soreheads  would  not  stoop  to  tell  such  deliberate  lies.  Typical 
of  these  stories  was  one  which  alleged  that  four  men  had  been 
brought  to  camp  under  arrest  and  had  been  immediately  taken 
out  and  shot.     It  sounds  foolish  now,  but  there  were  hundreds, 

63 


64  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

yes,  thousands  of  people  who  were  worried  by  this  particular 
yarn  and  Division  Headquarters  was  swamped  with  telephone 
calls,  telegrams  and  letters. 

At  any  rate,  delegations  from  various  states  began  to  arrive 
at  camp  to  look  their  men  over.  Of  course  they  found  them 
happy,  contented  and  well  cared  for.  Investigations  as  to 
the  sources  of  these  stories  were  made  and  it  was  finally 
decided — (not  by  any  people  with  the  spy  mania, -either) — 
that  they  had  been  started  by  enemy  agents,  which  was  prob- 
ably true,  whether  the  alleged  agents  were  in  the  pay  of  the 
Hun  Government  or  not. 

Impetus  was  added  to  the  training  of  the  troops  when  the 
announcement  was  made  at  Division  Headquarters  that  an 
Officers'  Training  School  was  to  be  started  at  camp  early  in 
January.  One  man  out  of  every  ten  in  camp  would  be  selected 
to  train  for  a  commission.  Everybody  had  a  chance.  It  was 
up  to  the  men  themselves  to  show  that  they  were  fitted  to  hold 
a  commission  and  the  best  of  the  division  would  be  selected. 
If  the  men  thought  they  had  been  exerting  their  best  efforts  up 
to  this  time  it  appeared  that  they  were  sadly  mistaken,  for 
they  started  to  dig  into  the  dirt  with  their  toes  as  they  never 
had  before. 

This  new-fangled  wrinkle  in  raising  Democracy's  Army  was 
followed  immediately  by  another  just  as  new  but  which  caused 
a  great  deal  more  astonishment.  They  had  measured  the 
bodies  of  these  men  as  they  came  into  the  service.  They  had 
measured  them  for  their  uniforms  and  also  for  a  record  of  their 
stature  and  some  idea  of  what  kind  of  work  they  would  be  best 
fitted  for.  Now  they  began  to  measure  their  brains,  and  some 
of  the  more  old  fashioned  among  us  snorted  with  disdain. 

But,  snorts  or  no  snorts,  that's  what  they  did  just  the  same. 
A  quiet  young  man  wearing  the  uniform  of  a  lieutenant  ap- 
peared one  day  and  declared  that  he  was  a  psychologist,  sent 
by  the  Great  Father  in  Washington  to  measure  the  brains  of 
the  New  England  soldiers,  make  a  record  of  them  and  forward 


Battery  E,  302D  Field  Artillery,  Visits  Boston 


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Some  of  the  302D  Infantry  Show  Home  Folks  What  Real 
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Photo  by  International  Film  Service,  Inc. 

A  Class  of  Officers  at  Revolver  Practice 


Photo  by  International  Film  Service,  Inc. 

The  Gas  Defense  School.      Ready  for  the  Cloud  of  Chlorine 
That  is  Coming 


The  Hostess  House 


The  Camp  also  Boasted  Its  Own  Theatre,  The  Liberty 


FORGING:|THE  SWORD  65 

a  copy  of  the  record  to  Washington.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
successful  experiments  ever  attempted  in  the  American  Army. 
He  was  Lieutenant  W.  S.  Foster,  formerly  of  Cornell  Univer- 
sity, and  soon  he  had  a  staff  of  "nut  pickers,"  working  under 
him  there  at  Devens,  that  was  kept  busy  for  months. 

There  were  two  different  tests,  one  for  officers  and  one  for 
men,  with  another  for  men  who  were  unable  either  to  read  or 
write.  Everybody  had  to  take  it  and  everybody  was  marked 
under  a  set  of  rules  laid  down  by  the  department  at  Washing- 
ton that  had  charge  of  the  work.  Nobody  was  supposed  to 
know  what  he  made  at  the  "nut"  tests,  but  it  became  known 
soon  after  they  were  started  that  some  of  the  officers  had 
fallen  down  miserably,  while  some  of  the  more  stupid  appearing 
of  the  enlisted  men  had  made  a  brilliant  finish. 

Taken  all  in  all,  however,  the  "nut  tests,"  when  compared 
with  practical  results  afterwards,  showed  that  the  men  and 
officers  both  did  just  about  what  the  psychological  tests  showed 
might  be  expected  of  them,  and  a  man's  mark  in  his  psycho- 
logical examination  soon  began  to  count  for  something  when 
promotion  time  came.  If  an  officer  failed  too  miserably  he 
was  investigated  further  and  an  effort  was  made  to  find  out 
what,  if  anything,  was  the  matter  with  him. 

No  one  was  better  able  to  judge  the  value  of  all  these  new 
methods  of  training  and  classification  than  an  old  and  success- 
ful soldier,  and  one  of  our  most  successful  ones  came  to  Camp 
Devens,  soon  after  the  New  England  men  had  hit  their  stride, 
to  look  them  over.  He  was  Lieutenant-General  S.  M.  B. 
Young,  U.  S.  A.  (retired),  one  of  the  only  three  living  lieuten- 
ant-generals in  the  whole  United  States  Army.  He  was  a 
veteran  of  every  war  since  '61,  and  he  knew  a  thing  or  two 
about  the  army  and  the  training  of  troops. 

General  Young  made  a  tour  of  the  cantonment  and  was 
shown  what  the  men  were  doing.  He  had  been  sent  by  the 
War  Department,  by  the  way.  He  had  lots  of  nice  things  to 
say  about  Devens  and  about  the  men,  but,  what  was  more  im- 

6 


66  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

portant,  he  said  that  what  he  had  seen  of  our  army  as  it  pre- 
pared for  service  in  the  World  War  was  almost  the  realization 
of  the  fondest  dreams  he  had  always  had  for  the  preparation  of 
the  army  of  the  United  States.  He  drew  a  word  picture  of  the 
difference  between  the  way  our  army  used  to  get  recruits  for 
war  service — when  the  recruits  came  in  groups  of  lo  and  20 — 
and  the  way  they  came  in  now — by  the  thousands.  The 
general  sighed  a  little  as  he  made  the  comparisons. 

Finally,  when  the  first  "rookies"  to  arrive  at  camp  had  been 
in  the  service  about  six  weeks,  came  what  everybody  had  been 
waiting  for  and  what  most  of  the  men  had  pictured  their  train- 
ing as  consisting  of:  a  real  trench  attack  and  a  sham  battle. 

On  October  23,  Captain  George  Hoban's  Company  H  of  the 
304th  Infantry  was  sent  into  the  trenches  with  the  warning 
that  it  was  to  be  attacked.  Captain  William  E.  Davidson's 
Company  E  of  the  same  regiment  was  told  that  the  enemy 
was  holding  a  series  of  trenches  and  that  he  was  to  be 
driven  out.  The  men  had  been  trained  to  some  extent  in  the 
most  approved  methods  of  trench  warfare,  but  this  was  their 
first  actual  experience  against  living,  breathing,  yelling,  eager, 
flesh-and-blood  antagonists,  even  though  they  were  their  own 
"buddies."    A  whistle  blew — and  then  the  fun  began. 

Charging  like  madmen,  most  of  them  forgetting  what  they 
had  been  told  about  how  they  were  to  advance.  Company  E 
set  sail  for  the  "enemy."  As  the  first  advancing  doughboy 
appeared  there  was  a  terrific  clicking  of  rifle  bolts  all  up  and 
down  the  trenches,  but  of  course  there  was  no  ammunition, 
and  Company  H  became  indignant. 

"How  in  hell  are  we  goin'  to  stop  'em  when  we  ain't  got  no 
bullets?" 

"Lay  down,  you  ox!  Don't  you  know  you're  dead?  I've 
bored  you  clean  through  the  pantry  four  times  now." 

"Dead?  Why  you  half-blind  she-mule,  where  do  you  get 
that  stuff?  We've  got  yuh  so  scared  yuh  can't  even  pull  your 
trigger." 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  67 

"Can  that  stuff.  I've  hit  you  an'  you're  dead  and  you 
know  it." 

"You're  a  liar.  You're  the  one  that's  dead.  My  bayonet's 
stuck  in  your  wishbone  right  now — or  it  would  be  if  I  had  one." 

"Whadyamean  dead,  you  big  fourflusher, "  etc. 

And  so  it  went.  Few  remember  now  which  company  was 
adjudged  the  winner,  and  few  care — now.  But  whichever  one 
it  was,  the  other  company  was  the  winner  the  next  time.  For 
that's  the  way  it  was  arranged.  But  what  everybody  does 
remember  is  that  the  spirit  exhibited  by  the  men  on  that  aus- 
picious occasion  augured  well  for  what  was  to  be  expected  of 
them  when  the  real  thing  came. 

October  23  will  stand  out  in  the  mind  of  every  man  who  was 
at  Camp  Devens  on  that  day  for  still  another  reason.  That 
was  the  day  on  which  the  first  steam  was  turned  on,  one  of  the 
most  welcome  events  in  the  whole  history  of  the  cantonment. 
For  it  must  be  admitted  that  some  of  the  men  had  been  none 
too  comfortable  o'  nights.  The  weather  had  been  nippy  and 
of  course  with  so  many  men  sleeping  in  one  room  it  was  neces- 
sary to  have  all  the  windows  open.  The  result  was,  well — ■ 
chilly,  unless  one  was  fortunate  enough  to  have  some  extra 
bedclothing  besides  the  three  blankets  issued  by  the  army. 
Most  of  them  had  extras,  but  they  were  happy  to  see  the  steam, 
or  rather  to  feel  it,  and  thereafter  they  were  as  comfortable  as 
it  is  possible  for  human  beings  to  be. 

Secretary  of  War  Newton  D.  Baker  paid  a  surprise  visit  to 
camp  that  fall  too,  and,  incidentally,  it  was  the  only  visit  he 
made  to  Devens  during  the  whole  period  of  the  war.  He 
arrived  one  afternoon  alone,  unattended  even  by  a  secretary, 
and  of  course  he  found  the  camp  in  its  worst  possible  state,  for 
it  was  raining  pitchforks  and  hammerhandles.  Mr.  Baker, 
however,  wasn't  bothered  a  bit  by  it.  He  was  scarcely  there 
long  enough,  for  he  was  hurrying  to  Manchester,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  had  merely  stopped  at  Devens  in  passing.  He  went 
to  Major-General  Hodges'  headquarters,  sat  there  for  about 


68  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

half  an  hour  and  smoked  his  pipe,  while  members  of  the  staff 
were  called  before  him  and  questioned.  Then  he  jumped 
into  an  automobile  and  hurried  away  again. 

Nobody  knew  why  he  came,  at  least  nobody  who  would  say 
anything  about  it,  but  his  visit  caused  the  finest  flock  of  ru- 
mors that  was  ever  loosed  in  an  army  cantonment — Devens  was 
to  be  closed  as  it  was  too  cold  to  train  men  there  during  a  New 
England  winter  and  all  the  men  were  to  be  sent  South  for  their 
training.  The  division  was  going  overseas  at  once  and  com- 
plete its  training  there.  Any  suggestion  made  by  any  per- 
son as  to  why  the  secretary  of  war  had  visited  Camp  Devens 
flew  from  lip  to  lip  with  the  swiftness  of  a  prairie  fire.  But 
nothing  happened  and  the  training  went  on  just  the  same. 

Something  new  was  happening  each  day,  and  one  of  the 
somethings  that  happened  early  in  the  game  was  the  beginning 
of  gas  training.  Opposite  the  Base  Hospital  two  little  build- 
ings had  been  erected  without  anybody  paying  much  attention 
to  them — at  first.  But  before  they  were  ready  to  go  across 
every  man  in  the  division,  from  the  commanding  general  down, 
knew  both  little  houses  and  knew  them  well.  They  also  knew 
the  trenches  and  dugouts  that  were  dug  just  outside  the  houses. 

This  was  the  Gas  Defense  School,  through  which  every 
officer  and  man  had  to  pass  as  a  part  of  his  training.  One 
house  was  devoted  to  the  lachrymating  or  tear  gas,  and  this 
the  men  entered  without  any  protection.  The  gas  they  got 
was  only  about  one  twentieth  as  strong  as  that  they  were  told 
to  expect  from  the  Germans,  but  it  gagged  them  and  made  the 
tears  flow  from  their  eyes  until  they  were  unable  to  see,  and 
taught  them  the  smell  of  the  stuff  as  nothing  else  could  have 
taught  it  to  them. 

The  other  house  was  used  for  various  other  kinds  of  poison- 
ous fumes  the  Huns  were  using  against  our  men.  This  house 
they  entered  with  their  masks  on.  It  was  done  simply  to  give 
them  confidence  in  their  gas  masks  and  to  teach  them  how 
necessary  they  were. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  69 

The  trenches  surrounding  the  school  were  equipped  with 
dugouts  that  were  supposed  to  be  gas-proof  and  probably  they 
were  as  effective  against  the  gas  as  any  dugouts  that  could  be 
constructed.  " Classes"  of  men  were  placed  in  these  trenches, 
distributed  along  them  as  they  expected  to  be  distributed 
along  the  trenches  opposite  the  Germans  later  on.  Off  in 
front  of  them  were  placed  containers  filled  with  chlorine  and 
other  deadly  fumes. 

Suddenly,  and  without  warning,  the  gas  was  released.  In 
clouds  it  arose  and  was  carried  toward  the  trenches  filled  with 
men.  Lookouts  in  the  trenches  sounded  the  warning,  masks 
were  quickly  adjusted  and  the  men  allowed  the  gas  to  sweep 
over  them.  Some  of  them  were  ordered  to  the  dugouts,  and 
there  in  those  little  holes  in  the  earth  they  learned  to  fight  this 
silent  death,  with  fires,  with  fans  and  with  beaters  and  spades 
with  which  they  literally  shoveled  the  yellow  poison  from  their 
retreat.  It  was  about  the  most  realistic  piece  of  training  they 
received  on  this  side  of  the  water,  and  later  many  of  them  were 
thankful  for  it. 

Right  in  the  middle  of  this  training,  which  seemed  to  grow 
more  interesting  every  day,  the  orders,  forecast  by  the  an- 
nouncement of  General  Bliss  a  few  days  before,  that  the 
"surplus  men"  from  Camp  Devens  were  to  be  sent  to  the 
South,  came  through.  Eight  thousand  men  were  called  for 
and,  of  course,  8,000  were  sent.  They  went  to  Camp  Gordon 
at  Chamblee,  Georgia.  There  was  not  a  unit  in  the  76th 
Division  that  didn't  lose  some  men.  They  were  the  cream  of 
New  England.  The  blow  was  one  of  the  hardest  the  76th 
Division  received.     And  it  received  many. 

Folks  began  to  be  more  interested  than  ever  in  what  their 
men  were  doing  as  the  reports  of  their  activities  went  into  thou- 
sands of  homes  through  the  newspapers  and  through  the  letters 
of  the  men  themselves.  They  began  to  wonder  whether  all 
these  strange  things  were  making  much  of  a  change  in  their 
boys,  and  the  throngs  of  visitors  grew  larger  than  ever. 


70  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Toward  the  last  of  October,  on  the  25th  to  be  exact,  Gov- 
ernor R.  Livingston  Beeckman  of  Rhode  Island  came  up  to 
see  the  men  from  his  state.  Like  the  live  wires  they  were,  they 
staged  a  regimental  review  of  the  301st  Engineers,  the  outfit 
from  Little  Rhody,  for  the  governor  and  his  party.  It  was 
the  first  regimental  review  "pulled"  in  camp  and  they  went 
through  it  like  veterans. 

Standing  beside  Colonel  Pope,  commander  of  the  regiment, 
Governor  Beeckman  watched  the  men  swing  by,  and  as  each 
company  passed  his  amazement  grew. 

"Can  these  be  the  men  I  saw  parading  through  the  streets 
of  Providence  only  four  or  five  weeks  ago?"  he  asked.  "How 
has  this  thing  been  done?" 

And  still  they  continued  to  pass,  splashing  through  the  mud 
caused  by  the  recent  rain,  until  every  man  had  gone  by.  Then 
Governor  Beeckman  spoke  to  them.  He  was  just  about  to 
leave  for  a  visit  to  the  battlefronts  of  Europe  and  he  told 
them  that  they  had  given  him  a  wonderful  message  to  carry 
to  the  boys  over  there,  a  message  that  he  would  not  fail  to 
deliver. 

Governor  Keyes  of  New  Hampshire  paid  a  flying  visit  to 
camp  on  the  same  day.  He  was  on  his  way  to  Washington, 
but  he  found  time  to  look  in  on  the  men  from  New  Hampshire 
and  tell  them  that  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  Granite 
State  was  behind  them,  heart,  soul  and  body.  Governor 
Keyes  was  accompanied  by  Adjutant-General  C.  W.  Howard, 
Major  E.  W.  French  and  Major  G.  W.  Morrill. 

On  the  following  day,  the  Boston  Regiment  received  visitors. 
Headed  by  Mayor  James  M.  Curley,  the  City  Fathers  and 
nearly  one  hundred  other  visitors  came  to  Devens  to  see  the 
boys  from  Boston.  The  regiment  was  brought  out  and  put 
through  its  paces.  It  was  on  that  occasion  that  the  men  of 
the  301st  Infantry  were  addressed  collectively  by  their  colonel, 
Frank  Tompkins,  for  the  first  time.  It  was  a  message  that 
none  of  them  who  are  still  alive  will  ever  forget,  for  it  was  the 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  71 

talk  of  one  fighting  man  to  a  large  group  of  men  of  his  own 
timber. 

"I  want  you  men  to  know  that  I  consider  you  have  deliv- 
ered the  goods,"  said  Colonel  Tompkins.  "I  know  you  will 
continue  your  splendid  work  until  the  end  and  after.  I  expect 
you  Boston  men  to  write  your  mark  deep  in  the  breast  of  the 
Hun." 

And  they  did  it,  too;  but  not  as  the  301st  Infantry. 

Mayor  Curley  spoke,  and  when  he  had  finished  the  flag  of 
the  city  of  Boston  was  presented  to  the  regiment.  It  was 
received  by  Color  Sergeant  James  H.  Connolley,  who  had 
formerly  been  a  Brookline  policeman.  It  was  taken  to  France 
and  is  now  safely  back  in  Boston. 


Chapter  IX 

OFF  DUTY  AND   ON 

Late  in  October  came  word  from  overseas  that  America  had 
fired  her  first  shot  into  the  Germans.  Our  artillery  was  in 
position,  pounding  away  at  the  Boche  and  some  of  our  troops 
were  in  the  line.  The  word  sent  an  electric  shock  through  the 
76th  Division,  and  they  "got  down  to  it"  as  they  never  had 
before.  On  the  same  day  the  Boston  Regiment  was  parading 
through  the  streets  of  its  own  city  in  full  equipment,  its  band 
blaring  forth  the  message  to  the  home  folks  to  dig  down  into 
their  pockets  and  back  up  the  boys  by  sending  the  Liberty 
Loan  over  the  top  and  the  Kaiser  into  the  swill  barrel. 

The  day  following,  the  first  of  the  foreign  officers  that  had 
been  promised  us  arrived.  They  were  veterans  of  the  war  and 
knew  every  trick  of  the  trade.  They  were  French,  Lieutenant 
Drieu  de  La  Rochelle  (a  Blue  Devil),  Adjutant  Georges 
Rennandin,  and  Sergeants  O.  Chevallier  and  Mouilland. 

Two  days  later  more  of  them  came.  Captain  Henri  Amann, 
for  whom  Amann  Field  was  named;  Lieutenant  Thierry  J. 
Mallet,  another  Blue  Devil,  and  Lieutenant  Paul  Perrigord. 

Scarcely  waiting  to  unpack  their  baggage,  these  veterans 
reported  themselves  to  Major-General  Hodges,  were  assigned 
to  quarters  and  began  to  teach  the  latest  thing  in  fighting  to 
men  who  were  the  most  eager  to  learn  that  the  Frenchmen  had 
ever  encountered.  New  England  had  truly  hit  her  stride  and 
the  76th  Division  was  on  its  way  with  all  sails  set  and  colors 
flying. 

It  was  almost  impossible  to  keep  track  of  what  was  going  on 

at  Camp  Devens  after  that.     More  than  a  dozen  newspaper 

men,  who  were  there  to  do  nothing  else  but  follow  the  training 

of  the  division,  were  kept  going  night  and  day  in  an  effort  to 

keep  up  with  events. 

72 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  73 

The  foreign  officers  brought  from  France  new  sketches  of 
trenches,  as  well  as  all  the  very  latest  wrinkles  in  warfare,  and 
arrangements  were  made,  through  the  various  military  com- 
missions in  the  United  States,  to  keep  these  new  wrinkles 
strictly  up  to  date  and  to  keep  the  new  soldiers  thoroughly 
posted  on  the  ever-changing  conditions  in  the  battle  zones. 

Night  attacks  were  started  in  November.  Real  grenades 
began  to  arrive,  and  Lieutenant  Mallet  got  the  training  of  his 
grenade  throwers  and  bombers  really  started.  Parties  of  men 
were  to  be  seen  almost  every  night,  after  darkness  had  fallen, 
starting  away  for  the  various  "sectors"  in  the  camp,  and  soon 
afterwards  the  sky  might  be  lighted  like  a  Christmas  tree.  A 
"fight"  was  going  on  somewhere  out  there. 

One  very  pleasing  incident  occurred  early  in  November. 
Congressman  James  A.  Gallivan  paid  a  visit  to  camp.  This 
was  a  pleasure  to  the  Boston  men  anyway,  as  "Jimmy" 
Gallivan  was  popular.  But  the  pleasantest  part  of  it  all  was 
that  the  Congressman  went  away  declaring  that  the  spirit  of 
the  fighting  men  from  his  home  state  had  simply  "floored" 
him,  and  the  conditions  under  which  they  were  living  and 
training  were  simply  fine.  The  gentleman  from  Massachu- 
setts had  come  to  Camp  Devens  prepared  to  see  the  New 
England  men  suffering  all  kinds  of  hardships  and  discomfort. 
He  had  got  the  idea  from  stories  he  had  heard  in  Boston.  His 
disappointment  pleased  him  no  less  than  it  pleased  the  men 
themselves  and  the  camp  officials. 

The  so-called  "welfare  organizations"  were  getting  into 
their  stride  by  this  time.  Recreation  buildings  were  springing 
up  all  over  the  camp  and  along  the  road  between  Ayer  and  the 
cantonment  gate  and  in  the  town  of  Ayer  itself.  The  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  had  huts  in  every  section  of  the  cantonment,  with  more 
than  three  score  secretaries  on  duty.  The  Knights  of  Colum- 
bus were  firmly  planted  in  the  camp  and  were  growing  and 
spreading  rapidly.  Boxing,  basket-ball,  pool,  music,  bowling, 
reading,   writing,   helpful  advice  and   scores  of  other  good 


74  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

things  were  on  tap  day  and  night  for  the  men  in  uniform. 
These  folks  were  really  interested  in  them,  and  they  showed  it 
after  the  fashion  of  real  friends. 

The  Salvation  Army  had  a  hut  that  was  really  a  half-way 
station  between  Ayer  and  the  camp  gate,  and  the  "S.  A." 
despite  the  handicap  of  not  being  inside  the  cantonment  did 
some  fine  work  for  the  men. 

In  Ayer  itself  the  War  Camp  Community  Service  had  estab- 
lished a  Soldiers'  Club  on  West  Street.  Here  the  men  found 
everything  that  was  to  be  found  in  the  recreation  huts  within 
the  camp,  with  a  fine  cafeteria  where  meals  could  be  bought  at 
reasonable  prices. 

And  besides  these  recreation  buildings  the  people  of  the 
towii  of  Ayer  have  it  to  their  everlasting  credit  that  they  did 
their  utmost  for  the  soldiers.  Hundreds  and  hundreds  of 
officers  and  men  who  served  at  Camp  Devens  made  lifelong 
friendships  among  the  people  at  Ayer. 

It  was  a  very  peculiar  situation  that  the  town  found  itself  in. 
Its  normal  population  before  the  war  was  about  2,500.  Sud- 
denly 40,000  men  were  dumped  into  an  area  just  outside  the 
town.  Sixteen  times  as  many  men  as  there  were  people  in  the 
whole  town  suddenly  moved  in.  But  the  little  New  England 
hamlet  spread  its  arms  wide  and  gathered  them  all  in,  and  the 
men  enjoyed  the  sensation. 

The  local  Knights  of  Columbus  rooms  were  thrown  open  to 
the  men  and  their  friends,  regardless  of  color  or  creed.  They 
were  welcomed  and  made  to  feel  at  home,  and  the  little  council 
bore  the  added  expense  without  a  murmur. 

Thousands  of  the  men  found  "hang-outs"  in  Ayer  where 
they  delighted  to  congregate  after  their  day's  training — just 
places  where  they  could  sit  around  and  smoke  and  gossip  and 
josh.  It  was  much  like  the  famous  "hang-outs"  to  be  found 
in  any  college  town,  where  generation  after  generation  gathers 
during  off  hours. 

Hundreds  of  men  who  trained  at  Camp  Devens  will  remem- 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  75 

ber  "Tom"  Raftery  for  the  rest  of  their  lives.  "Tom"  was 
the  manager  of  A.  Shuman  &  Company's  branch  store  at  Ayer. 
The  Shuman  people  sent  him  up  from  Boston  soon  after  the 
camp  opened.  "  Tom  "  was  an  old  baseball  player.  Reused 
to  be  with  the  Cleveland  Club,  and  he  was  one  of  the  best 
"mixers"  in  New  England.  Always  on  the  job,  yet  he  always 
had  time  to  meet  and  make  friends.  That  was  his  specialty, 
making  friends,  and  once  he  made  them  he  kept  them,  to  the 
benefit  of  the  men  themselves  and  also  to  his  firm's. 

Then  there  was  "Joe"  Markham's  store  in  Depot  Square. 
' '  Joe ' '  was  an  Ayer  man .  The  coming  of  the  camp  disarranged 
the  old  order  of  things  for  him,  but  he  accepted  the  new  order 
philosophically,  and  his  friends  are  now  numbered  by  the 
thousand.  It  was  men  like  these  who  did  wonders,  generally 
without  realizing  it,  to  keep  the  morale  of  the  Camp  Devens 
soldiers  high,  and  they  saw  American  soldiers  come  and  go  by 
the  thousand. 

As  soon  as  the  camp  opened  the  state  of  Massachusetts  sent 
state  police  to  Ayer.  The  "camp  followers"  of  previous  wars 
were  expected  to  materialize  in  this  one  again.  The  state 
police  were  to  keep  the  camp  clean.  And  they  did.  They 
really  constituted  a  vice  squad,  and  as  the  result  of  their  work 
Camp  Devens  was  among  the  cleanest  cantonments  in  the 
country.  Old  army  officers  spoke  of  it  and  wanted  to  know 
how  it  was  accomplished. 

Governor  McCall  selected  Inspector  Edward  P.  O'Hallorhan 
of  the  Newton  police  force  to  head  the  squad.  He  got  the  city 
of  Newton  to  give  Mr.  O'Hallorhan  a  leave  of  absence.  Mr. 
O'Hallorhan  picked  his  men  with  care.  There  were  only  a  few 
of  them,  but  they  did  the  work  of  many.  Best  known  among 
the  state  police  at  Devens  were  Lawrence  Schofield,  James 
Devereaux,  Frank  Hale,  Stephen  Bresnahan,  Edward  McCabe 
and  William  Cannon.  Kindly,  big-hearted  men  they  were, 
who  believed  in  tempering  justice  with  mercy,  and  using  lots  of 
plain  horse  sense.     Many  a  young  girl,  who  might  have  been 


76  FORGING  THE   SWORD 

sent  away  to  an  institution  of  some  kind,  was  sent  back  to  her 
home  with  a  warning  that  she  could  hardly  forget.  These  were 
the  ones  who  were  just  foolish.  But  dozens  of  others — yes, 
hundreds — who  came  to  Camp  Devens  to  prey  on  the  New 
England  fighting  men,  went  away  much  faster  than  they  came 
and  to  a  place  where  they  would  have  a  chance  to  think  it  over 
for  a  few  months. 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Sughrue  was  sent  to  Ayer  by  the  Common- 
wealth to  act  as  police  matron,  and  it  was  to  this  motherly, 
big-hearted  woman  that  many  a  foolish  young  girl  owes 
"another  chance. "  She  was  loved  by  the  whole  town  and  by 
every  soldier  in  camp  who  knew  her.  To  Mr.  O'Hallorhan,  his 
men,  and  Mrs.  Sughrue,  working  in  conjunction  with  Chief  of 
Police  Patrick  J.  Beatty  of  Ayer,  belongs  the  credit  of  keeping 
Camp  Devens  the  most  vice-free  camp  in  the  country. 

The  local  clergy  also  took  an  interest  in  the  men  of  the  camp, 
despite  the  fact  that  the  population  of  the  town  almost  doubled 
soon  after  the  camp  opened,  making  just  twice  as  much  work 
for  them.  Father  Thomas  P.  McGinn,  pastor  of  the  local 
Catholic  Church,  was  made  post  chaplain  by  the  military 
authorities.  He  had  in  his  parish  also  Father  Thomas  J. 
Brennan,  a  young  priest  with  a  big  heart  and  a  genial  smile  and 
a  vast  knowledge  of  young  men.  These  two  clergymen  placed 
themselves  at  the  disposal  of  the  soldiers,  and  were  ready  at 
any  time  of  the  day  or  night  to  help  in  any  way  they  could. 

It  really  was  almost  like  a  large  family,  that  town  of  Ayer 
during  the  war.  Everybody  was  pulling  together  to  make  the 
soldiers  happy  and  to  help  them  in  every  way  possible.  The 
results  justified  the  time  and  trouble. 

On  November  5  Major  Reginald  Barlow's  theater  opened  in 
the  building  that  had  formerly  been  occupied  by  the  canton- 
ment restaurant  for  workmen.  No  one  who  was  present  will 
ever  forget  the  opening  night.  It  was  an  unqualified  success 
and  a  monument  to  the  energy  and  foresight  of  Major  Barlow, 
who  recognized  the  needs  of  the  men. 


.       FORGING  THE  SWORD  77 

Maine  men  of  the  first  draft  won't  soon  forget  the  6th  day  of 
November.  Governor  Carl  Milliken  of  Maine  came  to  camp 
on  that  day  with  $1,000  for  the  mess  fund  of  the  303d  Field 
Artillery,  which  was  the  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  Regiment. 
Governor  Milliken  will  remember  the  day,  too.  He  found  the 
men  from  his  state  waiting  for  him  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  audito- 
rium. His  excellency  was  almost  carried  off  his  feet  as  he 
stepped  to  the  platform.  As  Governor  Milliken  entered, 
Sergeant  "Bill"  Cunningham  got  to  his  feet. 

"Now,  men,  let  it  come;  all  you've  got!" 

And  it  came;  a  screaming  whistle  from  1,400  lips,  a  crashing 
drumfire  of  "boom-booms"  and  three  long  "Governor  Milli- 
kens"  at  the  end.  It  was  a  most  startling  procedure.  Not  a 
bit  military,  you  know,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  but,  Lord!  it 
sounded  good  to  Maine  folks. 

When  the  governor  recovered  from  that  hair-raising  demon- 
stration he  spoke  to  the  regiment.  He  told  them  that  the 
state  of  Maine  was  behind  them,  heart  and  soul  and  pocket- 
book.  He  said  that  the  whole  state  was  proud  of  the  303d  and 
that  the  home  folks  were  relieved  when  George  McL.  Presson, 
adjutant-general  of  Maine,  had  spread  the  good  tidings  that 
the  men  were  comfortable  and  happy  and  not  suffering,  as  had 
been  reported. 

But  these  informal  proceedings,  while  all  right  on  such  oc- 
casions as  this,  had  to  be  curbed  somewhat.  A  tightening  up  in 
the  matter  of  discipline  was  ordered.  The  word  was  sent  out 
that  these  chaps  weren't  "boys"  any  more.  They  were  men 
now,  and  as  such  they  would  be  expected  to  live  up  to  the  full 
meaning  of  the  word  in  the  army.     And  they  did. 

Lieutenant  Perrigord  of  the  14th  Field  Artillery,  French 
Army,  opened  his  school  in  the  handling  of  the  French  auto- 
matic rifle.  Other  schools  were  opened  almost  every  day. 
This,  together  with  the  tightening  up  of  discipline,  meant 
business.  All  day  long  and  sometimes  all  night  the  men  were 
out  on  the  cold  New  England  fields  and  forests.     As  winter 


78  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

drew  on  it  became  known  that  there  was  a  slight  shortage  of 
overcoats,  and  there  were  still  10,920  men  of  the  first  draft  yet 
to  come  in.  But  the  authorities  found  ways  to  keep  the  men 
warm  until  the  overcoats  arrived,  and  the  training  went  on 
unabated. 

The  first  bombing  field  to  be  established  in  America  was  laid 
out  at  Camp  Devens  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Mallet, 
the  French  instructor  in  that  art.  It  was  a  sea  of  shell  holes 
and  torn  ground.  There  didn't  seem  to  be  any  system  to  it. 
But  there  was,  and  day  by  day  the  men  learned  more  and 
more  about  that  system  from  behind  the  concrete  wall  where 
they  threw  their  grenades. 

Target  practice  started  for  the  whole  division  on  November 
20.  A  huge  rifle  range  had  been  constructed  across  the  main 
road  between  Ayer  and  Shirley  from  the  camp.  It  was  a  cold 
day  when  the  first  shots  were  fired,  but  every  man  on  that 
range  was  just  aching  to  get  out  to  the  firing  point  and  cuddle 
the  butt  of  his  rifle  against  his  cheek  and  fire  his  first  shot. 
General  Hodges  was  down  to  see  how  his  men  would  shoot  on 
the  first  day  and  he  went  back  to  Headquarters  the  happiest 
man  in  fourteen  counties,  for  these  lads  could  shoot  naturally. 
Yes,  he  was  happy  despite  the  fact  that  each  regiment  in  his 
division  was  shy  at  least  400  men.  For  if  all  the  men  yet  to 
come  were  like  these  it  would  be  almost  no  trouble  at  all  to 
make  soldiers  of  them. 

On  November  22  the  advance  guard  of  the  British  instruct- 
ors arrived.  They  came  straight  from  the  trenches  to  co-op- 
erate with  their  brothers-in-arms  of  the  French  Army  in 
whipping  the  Yankees  into  shape  for  service  "over  there." 
They  were  Captain  E.  O.  Hodson,  Rifle  Brigade,  and  Company 
Sergeant-Major  R.  V.  Larkin,  instructors  in  machine  gunnery; 
Captain  J.  W.  Turner  and  Sergeant  A.  Lewis,  instructors  in 
gas  defense;  Captain  J.  E.  L.  Warren  and  Sergeant  T.  Moyles, 
instructors  in  the  trench  mortar,  and  Captain  J.  E.  Hughes 
and  Sergeant  W.  A.  Ropen,  instructors  in  bayonet  fighting. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  79 

In  November  came  the  first  definite  announcement  as  to 
how  the  men  from  the  various  states,  who  had  been  inducted 
into  the  service  up  to  that  time,  had  shaped  up  physically. 
From  September  5  to  November  10,  there  had  been  rejected 
for  physical  reasons  4,281  men.  Of  these  2,008  were  from 
Massachusetts,  1,012  from  Connecticut,  620  from  New  York, 
231  from  Rhode  Island,  199  from  Maine,  130  from  New 
Hampshire  and  81  from  Vermont.  This,  considering  the 
mistakes  that  were  bound  to  occur  while  the  draft  machinery 
was  getting  under  way,  was  considered  a  creditable  record. 


Chapter  X 
THE   76TH  STANDS   INSPECTION 

There  had  been  many  big  movements  of  troops  into  Camp 
Devens  up  to  this  time,  but  the  biggest  movement  out  of  camp 
up  to  that  time  came  on  the  day  before  Thanksgiving,  when 
20,000  New  England  soldiers  went  to  their  homes  to  celebrate 
the  great  New  England  feast  day.  It  seemed  as  though  the 
stream  of  trains  that  puffed  out  of  Ayer  would  never  end,  but 
it  did,  and  the  lads  got  home.  Besides  these  who  went  to 
their  homes,  i,ooo  more  were  dined  by  families  in  and  around 
Ayer ;  another  exhibition  of  the  patriotic  spirit  of  Ayer  people. 

But  those  who  remained  in  camp,  and  there  were  approxi- 
mately 7,000  of  them,  didn't  suffer  by  any  means.  The  home 
folks  who  were  drawing  mental  pictures  of  their  sons  eating 
slumgullion  at  Camp  Devens  on  Thanksgiving  day,  would 
have  received  a  shock  could  they  have  looked  into  the  mess 
halls  at  dinner  time.  These  7,000  men  had  15,000  pounds  of 
turkey  cooked  for  them,  with  a  reserve  of  35,000  pounds  in 
case  the  first  meal  should  prove  insufficient.  They  had 
cranberries,  nuts,  cake,  candy,  ice  cream,  cigars,  cigarettes — 
everything  that  an  epicure  could  possibly  think  of  to  tickle  the 
palate  and  comfort  the  inner  man,  comfort  him  until  he  rolled 
groaning  upon  his  bunk.  Pies  arrived  in  camp  by  the  motor 
truck  load,  good  old-fashioned  New  England  pies  of  flaky  crust 
and  generous  "innards,"  so  that  the  only  thing  that  was 
missing  was  the  home  folks  and  the  faces  of  loved  ones.  And 
in  many  cases  they  were  on  hand,  too,  for  where  it  was  possible 
to  do  so  the  home  folks  didn't  bother  getting  dinner  at  home. 
They  came  to  Camp  Devens  and  had  dinner  on  the  Govern- 
ment, and  Uncle  Sam  was  glad  to  have  them.  The  dinner 
was  the  big  incident  of  the  day,  but  there  were  many  other 
features — dances,  shows  and  concerts  galore. 

80 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  8i 

There  is  one  little  incident  that  deserves  mention  in  this 
little  story  of  Camp  Devens.  It  is  one  of  the  things  that  we 
like  to  remember  about  New  England  people.  One  little 
woman  up  in  Nashua,  New  Hampshire,  wrote  to  the  command- 
ing general  asking  to  have  a  "lonely  soldier"  sent  to  her  house 
for  Thanksgiving  dinner.     She  wrote: 

"I  don't  care  who  you  send  me.  No  matter  if  they  can't 
speak  English  even.  If  they're  good  enough  to  fight  for  my 
home,  they're  good  enough  to  eat  at  my  table." 

It  takes  all  kinds  to  make  a  world,  of  course,  and  while  it  is 
so  much  more  pleasant  to  remember  only  the  good  and  forget 
what  little  of  the  unpleasant  there  was,  there  is  another  inci- 
dent, in  direct  contrast  to  the  above,  that  is  too  rich  to  be 
forgotten. 

Another  woman,  much  better  supplied  with  this  world's 
goods  than  the  little  New  Hampshire  woman,  wrote  asking 
that  forty  soldiers  be  sent  to  her  house  for  dinner.  It  wasn't 
on  Thanksgiving  day,  but  it  was  not  so  very  long  afterwards. 
In  her  letter  she  specified  that  she  did  not  want  any  men  "of 
Hebrew  or  Irish  extraction."  No  comment  on  the  feelings  of 
the  officer  who  received  the  letter  is  necessary.  He  sent  the 
forty  men  and  none  of  them  could  be  accused  of  being  either 
Irish  or  Hebrew.  He  sent  the  woman  forty  lads  from  the 
sunny  Southland — colored  soldiers  from  Florida.  No  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  favor  has  been  received  to  date.  The 
men  had  a  good  time,  despite  the  "sudden  illness"  of  the 
hostess. 

Just  after  Thanksgiving  the  76th  Division  temporarily  lost 
its  commander.  General  Hodges,  accompanied  by  a  few  of  his 
personal  staff,  left  quietly  one  day  and  was  not  seen  at  Camp 
Devens  for  several  weeks.  They  went  to  France  for  a  tour 
of  the  battle  lines.  With  their  departure  Brigadier-General 
William  Weigel,  comm.ander  of  the  151st  Depot  Brigade,  and 
later  a  major-general  himself,  took  command  of  the  camp  and 
the  division. 


82  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Soon  after  General  Hodges'  departure  came  the  first  inspec- 
tion of  the  whole  76th  Division.  The  occasion  was  the  visit 
of  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  Benedict  Crowell.  A  big  review 
had  been  planned  at  first,  but  on  his  arrival  in  Boston,  Secre- 
tary Crowell  talked  with  Headquarters  by  telephone,  and  it 
was  degided  to  hold  the  inspection  instead.  One  battalion  of 
troops  was  reviewed,  however;  the  first  battalion  of  the  303d 
Infantry,  hailing  from  Schenectady,  New  York,  and  vicinity, 
and  commanded  by  Major  W.  H.  Neil.  Major-General  John 
L.  Chamberlain  of  the  Inspector  General's  Department  ac- 
companied Secretary  Crowell. 

This  inspection  of  the  76th  was  one  of  the  most  peculiar 
affairs  that  Camp  Devens  had  seen  up  to  this  time.  For  the 
men  were  lined  along  the  sides  of  the  roads  through  the  camp, 
miles  and  miles  of  them.  They  were  cold  and  uncomfortable, 
standing  for  hours  in  the  slush  and  snow,  waiting  until  the 
secretary  had  passed  them.  The  inspecting  party  rode  in 
twelve  automobiles.  They  drove  at  the  rate  of  ten  or  twelve 
miles  an  hour.     The  entire  inspection  lasted  about  an  hour. 

The  one  thrill  of  the  day  was  furnished  by  Major  Reginald 
Barlow's  battalion  of  the  302d  Infantry.  For  the  benefit  of 
the  secretary,  and  in  order  that  he  might  see  the  men  in  action, 
a  specimen  of  the  training  that  was  being  carried  on  by  the 
authorities  was  given. 

Major  Barlow  stood  at  the  top  of  a  hill  near  the  post-ofiice. 
At  the  base  of  the  hill  in  trenches  were  Companies  A  and  C  of 
the  302d.  These  companies  were  made  up  of  men  from  Fall 
River,  and  were  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Robert  Cutler, 
At  a  blast  of  Major  Barlow's  whistle  two  waves  of  men  charged 
up  the  hill,  over  two  lines  of  trenches,  through  barbed  wire  and 
shell  holes  and  down  the  other  side,  jabbing  their  bayonets 
into  dummies. 

"Remember,  only  six  inches  of  steel  and  don't  dirty  the  hilt," 
warned  Major  Barlow  as  his  men  passed.  It  was  neatly  done 
and  won  the  praise  of  the  visitors. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  83 

And  Company  A  of  the  301st  Infantry  had  its  barracks  in- 
spected, an  unpopular  event,  even  when  the  inspection  is  by 
your  own  officers.  But  Mess  Sergeant  William  F.  Norton  of 
East  Boston  found  out  somehow  that  General  Chamberlain 
likes  fresh  shoulder  with  lots  of  fat  on  it,  and  so  the  shoulder 
was  there  to  be  inspected.  After  it  was  over  and  the  sighs  of 
relief  had  been  drawn  and  drawn  again,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
secretary  and  the  general  "look  at  every  last  thing  and  don't 
say  much."     They  sampled  some  things,  too. 

General  Weigel  then  asked :  "Where  do  we  go  now?  "  "That 
bakery  smelled  awfully  good,"  smiled  Secretary  Crowell,  but 
the  party  went  to  the  general's  house  for  lunch. 

During  his  visit  Secretary  Baker's  representative  saw  some 
of  the  difficulties  of  training  a  division  at  Camp  Devens  in 
winter,  but  he  didn't  see  them  all,  for  the  weather  was  "sloppy" 
while  he  was  there.  Ice  and  slippery  roads  and  grounds,  cou- 
pled with  bitter  New  England  winter  weather,  made  the  lot  of 
the  doughboy  a  hard  one.  Sometimes  it  was  more  than  30 
degrees  below  zero,  and  at  least  one  fatality  was  due  to  the  ice. 
W^hile  drilling  one  day  Alfiero  Olivelli  of  21  Salem  Street, 
Boston,  a  member  of  Company  M,  301st  Infantry,  slipped  and 
fell  on  the  ice,  striking  his  head  and  receiving  injuries  which 
resulted  in  his  death  a  few  hours  later.  On  the  same  day, 
Herman  F.  Wood  of  Fall  River  narrowly  missed  death  when  the 
man  in  front  of  him  slipped  and  his  rifle  struck  Wood  on  the 
head,  rendering  him  unconscious. 

The  301st  and  302d  Artillery  had  their  troubles  with  the 
icy  roads,  too.  They  had  just  received  their  horses  when  the 
bitter  weather  set  in,  and  their  task  in  leading  and  exercising 
their  mounts  was  to  keep  on  their  feet  themselves,  keep  the 
horses  on  their  feet,  if  possible  and,  if  they  did  fall,  to  keep  from 
falling  under  the  feet  of  the  horses. 

For  a  time  it  looked  as  though  the  Depot  Brigade  men  might 
be  training  for  service  in  France  ahead  of  the  division,  for  dur- 
ing this  cold  weather  many  of  them  were  living  in  the  trenches, 


84  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

sleeping  under  ground  and  getting  hardened  generally.  At 
this  time  it  was  so  cold  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  men  to 
fire  their  rifles  on  the  rifle  range.  And  it  was  regular  trench 
life  that  these  men  were  living  in  the  trenches.  It  was  almost 
as  much  as  your  life  was  worth  to  try  and  visit  the  trenches  at 
night,  but  the  officers  and  men  both  appreciated  visitors  just 
the  same.  One  newspaper  correspondent  tried  it  alone  one 
night.  He  knew  where  the  trenches  were,  and  in  the  blackness 
he  groped  his  way  to  them  safely.  Suddenly,  however,  he  was 
nearly  startled  out  of  his  skin  by  a  voice  of  a  sentry  behind 
him.  A  bayonet  crept  up  close  to  his  back  and  he  was  ordered 
to  proceed  to  Battalion  Headquarters.  At  last  a  dugout  was 
reached,  and  the  sentry  announced  that  he  had  a  prowler 
but  didn't  know  whether  to  place  him  under  formal  arrest 
or  not. 

"Major,"  cried  the  scribe,  without  giving  the  officer  any 
identification,  "I've  got  a  thermos  of  hot  coffee  and  some 
doughnuts  and  sandwiches  and     ...     " 

"Come  right  in  out  of  the  dark,"  cried  the  voice  heartily, 
and  without  asking  who  it  was.  "  No,  sentry,  this  man  is  not 
under  arrest.     He  is  a  friend,  a  friend  indeed!" 

And  the  sentry  went  back  to  his  post  wishing  he  had  searched 
his  prisoner  first. 

Many  of  the  weather  difficulties  were  soon  at  least  partially 
overcome,  however.  Many  of  the  companies  had  creepers 
issued  to  them  so  that  the  danger  of  slipping  on  the  ice 
was  practically  done  away  with.  Nevertheless  a  little  ditty 
known  as  the  Devens  Weather  Dirge  became  very  popular. 
It  ran : 

"Sherman  said  that  war  was  Hell, 
'Twas  fifty  years  ago, 
But  Sherman  never  was  at  Ayer, 

So  Sherman  didn't  know. 
Hell  is  hot  but  Ayer  is  not, 
It's  twenty-eight  below; 
That's  why  we're  going  over  there. " 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  85 

Chorus 

"  Hip,  hip,  hurrah,  we'll  give  them  three  times  three! 
Hip,  hip,  hurrah,  no  more  cold  Ayer  for  me. 
Sherman  said  that  war  was  Hell 
But  Hell  would  freeze  in  Ayer, 
That's  why  we're  going  over  there." 

At  intervals  the  cold  was  so  intense  that  drilling  out  of  doors 
was  impossible,  but  on  these  occasions  the  drill  would  be  car- 
ried on  in  the  barracks,  and  in  one  building  a  machine  gun 
emplacement  was  built  and  the  training  went  on  regardless  of 
weather. 

The  first  machine  gun  was  actually  fired  at  Camp  Devens  on 
December  5.  "Top  Sergeant"  Charles  B.  Farrington  of  Com- 
pany C,  302d  Machine  Gun  Battalion,  fired  the  first  shot,  and 
the  excitement  and  joy  of  the  men  as  that  indescribable  "rat- 
tat-tat-tat"  echoed  over  the  snowy  land  and  the  bullets  kicked 
up  snow  and  dirt  in  the  embankment  several  hundred  yards 
away  was  worth  going  miles  to  see  and  hear.  The  first  machine 
guns  issued  at  Ayer  were  Colts  that  had  been  built  for  the 
Russian  Government,  so  straightway  they  were  christened 
"  Kerenskies. "  And  as  the  first  little  "Kerensky"  barked 
forth  45  shots  in  less  than  five  seconds,  the  men  just  wriggled 
with  dehght  and  yelled:     "O,  come  hither,  you  Huns!" 

And  right  at  the  beginning  the  New  England  machine  gun- 
ners started  clipping  records.  The  British  instructors  told 
Company  C  of  the  301st  Machine  Gun  Battalion  how  to  mount 
them  and  instructed  them  in  detail  as  to  the  British  system. 
They  said  that  the  Tommies  at  the  start  usually  took  about 
15  seconds  to  mount  them.  Lieutenant  George  C.  Wilkins 
gave  it  to  thirty  of  his  men  and  they  did  it  the  first  time  in 
nine  seconds  fiat,  beating  the  Britishers  by  six  seconds. 

The  British  officers  and  non-commissioned  officers  took  a 
mighty  interest  in  their  proteges.  They  liked  them  and  they 
wanted  to  impart  to  them  all  they  knew  of  the  war  game. 
Their  bayonet  instruction  was  little  short  of  marvelous,  and 


86  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

the  Yankee  lads  soon  came  to  understand  what  their  instruct- 
ors meant  by  getting  the  punch  behind  the  bayonet  work.  So 
well  did  the  Englishmen  teach  these  lads  of  ours,  that  pretty 
soon  it  was  hard  to  realize  that  it  was  only  dummies  these  boys 
were  charging  and  stabbing. 

The  British  theory  was,  apparently,  that  when  you  charge  a 
German  you  can  win  half  your  victory  by  scaring  him.  And 
in  order  to  scare  him  it  is  necessary  to  put  the  yell  of  a  Coman- 
che warrior  into  the  sucking  dove  class  and  to  make  the  face 
look  as  nearly  as  possible  like  a  concentrated  reproduction  of 
Dante's  vision.  After  our  lads  got  into  their  stride  it  was 
extremely  ludicrous  to  see  the  expressions  that  would  spread 
over  the  faces  of  visitors  who  happened  to  wander  into  a  bay- 
onet class  in  action.  For  the  yells  of  these  youngsters  were 
hair-raising  and  sometimes  their  language  in  addressing  the 
dummies  was  not  the  kind  to  be  found  in  a  Sunday  School 
quarterly. 

Their  instructions  from  the  British  noncoms.  were  some- 
thing along  this  line: 

"  Blat  at  'im  like  a  bloody  banshee!  Cuss  'im  off  the  fyce  o' 
the  earth.  Look  at  'im  so  bleedin'  fierce  that  'ee'll  think  yer 
goin'  t'  bloody  well  chaw  'im  h'up,  'stead  o'  stickin'  'im  with 
yer  byonet.  'Owl  at  'im  like  'ee'd  stole  yer  lawst  drop  o'  rum. 
Roar  at  the  blighter  like  a  lot  o'  bloody  lions  wot's  off  their 
feed.     Now  go  at 'em  again!" 

With  teeth  gritted  in  a  perfect  frenzy  of  rage,  and  yelling 
like  young  Sioux  braves,  the  class  in  bayonet  instruction  would 
charge  the  dummies.  It  sounded  pretty  good  to  them,  and 
when  it  was  over  they  turned  and  looked  at  their  British  friend 
expectantly. 

"That,"  said  the  Britisher  bitterly,  "was  a  'ell  of  a  mess! 
W'y  do  yer  want  t'  h'apologize  t'  the  bounder?  'Ere,  give  us 
yer  byonet!" 

Taking  the  rifle  and  bayonet  and  throwing  his  British  cap  to 
one  side  the  cockney  backed  off,  eyeing  the  dummy  nearest 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  87 

him  malevolently.  His  eyes  gleamed  brighter  and  brighter  and 
fiercer  and  fiercer  and  his  Hps  began  to  curl  back  over  his  teeth 
in  a  fiendish  snarl.  Suddenly  he  crouched,  ripping  off  a  string 
of  curses  that  would  make  the  blood  of  a  thug  run  cold.  Then, 
with  a  screech  of  fury  that  fairly  raised  the  hair  on  the  heads  of 
his  pupils,  he  leaped  at  the  dummy  and  sank  the  cold  steel 
into  its  wishbone,  assuming  that  it  had  one.  At  least  the 
thrust  was  where  the  wishbone  ought  to  be. 

"That's  summat  like  it,"  he  said  as  he  turned  toward  his 
class.  "But,"  apologetically,  "H'im  a  little  bit  orf  form 
myself  just  now. " 

And  people  used  to  think  of  military  training  simply  as 
marching  and  drilling! 

Yes,  indeed,  many  a  good  New  Englander  got  the  start  of  his 
or  her  life,  as  the  case  happened  to  be,  on  suddenly  running 
into  a  piece  of  real  fighting  training  in  progress.  It  took  them 
a  little  time  to  get  used  to  it,  for  at  first  they  couldn't  seem  to 
realize  that  these  things  were  being  taught  their  boys  in  order 
to  save  life,  that  is,  American  life. 

Later  on  battles  were  fought  at  Camp  Devens  almost  every 
day,  and  many  a  man  was  "bunged  up"  in  those  battles,  lit- 
erally as  well  as  figuratively.  Black  eyes  and  bloody  noses 
were  almost  sure  to  follow  bayonet  attacks,  and  bruises  were 
commonplace,  for  these  men  were  going  at  it  in  earnest. 

Many  a  visitor  to  Camp  Devens  just  happened  in  on  a 
"battle. "  One  example  is  as  good  as  another.  Picture  for  a 
moment: 

A  whistle  sounded  shrilly  in  a  deserted  farmyard,  which 
was  now  a  part  of  the  cantonment.  It  brought  Lieutenant 
"Tommy"  Thatcher,  Harvard  football  player  before  he  went 
to  bayoneting,  jack-in-the-boxing  out  of  a  deep  trench.  He 
was  followed  by  seven  others. 

Up  a  steep  they  scooted,  their  rifles  gripped  and  wicked 
gray  steel  showing  deadly  in  the  sunlight.  They  reached  the 
crest  and  there  the  hill  dropped  perpendicularly.    With  a  yell 


88  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

and  a  snarl  and  a  growl  (these  chaps  had  learned  the  trick  from 
the  Britishers) — all  rolled  into  one  utterance — they  leaped  into 
the  air  and  down  to  the  ground  eight  feet  below. 

Before  even  their  feet  had  touched  the  earth  their  bayonets 
were  buried  in  sandbags,  which  represented  the  enemy.  Al- 
most in  the  same  movement  the  bayonets  had  been  jerked  out 
again.  The  eight  men  sped  on  in  an  even  line  for  another  ten 
yards  and  each  bayonet  found  another  mark,  a  "German" 
dummy  of  reeds  suspended  from  a  gallows. 

The  line  of  men  moved  on  faster  for  another  twenty  yards 
to  another  line  of  dummies,  another  gnashing  shout,  another 
jabbing  and  still  another  charge,  on  to  a  third  line  of  "Ger- 
mans. "     Then  came  the  biggest  test  of  all. 

Lieutenant  Thatcher's  head  peered  over  the  top  just  long 
enough  for  him  to  glimpse  the  target.  Then  he  gave  his  orders. 
The  muzzles  of  eight  rifles  nosed  swiftly  out  over  the  terrain 
and  forty  shots  rang  out  in  almost  as  many  seconds.  Almost 
every  bullet  found  its  mark  in  the  silhouetted  heads  of  Fritzies, 
Heinies  and  Hunies,  which  were  nestled  against  a  hillside,  some 
distance  away. 

This  was  known  as  the  assault  course. 

It  was  the  same  in  almost  every  arm  of  the  service.  The 
men  were  being  taught  what  they  had  to  do  under,  as  nearly 
as  was  possible,  the  conditions  under  which  they  would  have 
to  do  it.  They  weren't  just  being  told.  They  were  being 
shown,  and  after  they  were  shown  they  were  doing  it. 

When  the  war  training  for  the  76th  Division  really  started 
there  were  34  different  schools  running  in  various  parts  of  the 
cantonment.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Edward  Croft  was  head  of 
the  entire  group  of  schools,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Charles  E. 
Romeyn  was  in  command  of  the  school  of  the  army.  They 
weren't  all  fighting  schools,  of  course.  There  were  cooking 
schools  and  horseshoeing  schools  and  saddlers'  schools  and 
equitation  schools  and  schools  of  field  fortifications  and 
almost  every  kind  of  military  school  you  could  think  of.     But 


FORGING   THE  SWORD  89 

they  were  graduating  classes  fast,  for  their  students  were  bright 
and  eager  and  willing. 

And  as  they  progressed  their  training  became  more  technical 
and  difficult.  There  were  accidents,  of  course.  It  is  hardly 
possible  to  play  with  fire  continually  without  getting  burned. 
But  the  victims  of  the  accidents  usually  had  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  their  misfortune  had  warned  hundreds  of  their 
buddies.  One  man,  however,  was  the  victim  of  one  of  the 
most  deplorable  accidents  that  happened  at  Camp  Devens 
during  the  entire  history  of  the  camp.  He  was  Corporal 
Timothy  J.  Daley  of  Waterbury,  Connecticut.  During  bay- 
onet practice  one  day  he  ran  upon  the  bayonet  of  another  man 
and  was  almost  instantly  killed.  He  was  a  most  popular  lad 
and  a  very  promising  young  man.  His  death  in  such  an 
unfortunate  manner  cast  a  gloom  over  the  entire  camp. 


Chapter  XI 
CHRISTMAS  AND   PROGRESS 

December  13  was  Connecticut's  day  at  Camp  Devens. 
Governor  Marcus  H.  Holcomb  came.  He  watched  the  304th 
Infantry — that  wonderful  regiment  composed  almost  exclu- 
sively of  Connecticut  men — go  through  its  newly  learned  paces 
in  the  trenches.  He  saw  all  the  various  methods  of  attack 
and  defense  that  they  had  learned  up  to  this  time,  and  the 
governor,  getting  along  in  years,  enjoyed  every  minute  of  it. 

Then  he  addressed  them,  the  regiment  having  been  gathered 
together,  for  he  had  brought  among  other  things  from  their 
home  state  a  message  that  they  were  to  carry  with  them  during 
the  rest  of  their  military  service.  And,  also,  he  had  that  which 
every  soldier  should  treasure  among  the  dearest  of  his  military 
possessions,  a  stand  of  colors  for  the  regiment.  It  was  an 
American  flag  given  to  the  304th  Infantry  by  the  citizens  of 
Connecticut. 

In  a  stirring  speech  to  these  men  of  his  native  state,  Governor 
Holcomb  also  gave  them  a  piece  of  advice,  which,  as  nearly  as 
can  be  ascertained,  was  followed  by  every  man  who  had  an 
opportunity  to  put  it  into  practice.  Raising  his  right  arm  high 
above  his  head,  his  whole  frame  vibrating  with  feeling.  Gover- 
nor Holcomb  cried: 

"When  you  go  over,  men,  shoot  straight  and  take  damned 
few  prisoners!" 

Colonel  J.  S.  Herron,  commander  of  the  304th,  responded 
feelingly  to  the  governor's  address,  accepting  the  colors  on  be- 
half of  the  regiment,  and  assuring  the  governor  that  they  would 
be  guarded  with  the  life  of  every  officer  and  man  in  the  outfit. 
The  flag  was  turned  over  to  Color  Sergeant  Charles  Jackson  of 
Waterbury,  Connecticut.    Then  followed  a  review  of  the  304th 

90 


FORGING  THE   SWORD  91 

Infantry'-  and  also  of  the  303d  Machine  Gun  Battalion,  which 
contained  many  Connecticut  men.  Major  Fred  C.  Bradford 
commanded  the  Machine  Gun  Battalion. 

Devens  men  hailed  with  delight  the  opportunity  ojffered  by 
the  Government  for  enlisted  men  to  become  officers  if  they  had 
the  necessary  qualifications  and  could  "deliver  the  goods." 
It  was  a  fine  Christmas  present  for  several  hundred  men,  when 
they  found  that  they  had  been  named  by  their  commanding 
officers  as  eligible  for  the  O.  T.  C.  Many  men  applied,  but  as 
is  always  the  case,  comparatively  few  were  chosen.  Five 
hundred  and  twenty-four  men  from  Camp  Devens  got  the 
opportunity  to  start  the  course,  but  it  was  a  rigid  one,  and 
many  were  disqualified  early  in  the  game.  Approximately 
half  of  the  number  who  started  finished  the  course. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Moor  N.  Falls,  who  went  over  to  France 
with  General  Pershing  and  then  returned  to  help  train  men,  was 
named  as  commander  of  the  school.  The  other  officers  of  the 
school  were  Captain  Joseph  Sidorowicz,  adjutant;  Lieutenant 
W.  H.  Rumpf,  assistant  adjutant;  Captain  Birnie  L.  Brunson, 
quartermaster;  Lieutenant  Roy  B.  Kenyon,  assistant  quarter- 
master. The  instructors  were  Major  Ralph  Lowell,  Depot 
Brigade;  Captain  John  C.  Shaw,  Depot  Brigade;  Captain 
D.  G.  Hunter,  Depot  Brigade;  Captain  P.  A.  Merriam,  Depot 
Brigade;  Captain  C.  K.  Clark,  Depot  Brigade;  Captain  Alex 
Kendall,  Depot  Brigade;  Captain  Robert  C.  Booth,  303d 
Infantry;  Lieutenant  George  Cockrell,  Divisional  Trains; 
Lieutenant  P.  D.  Hill,  301st  Infantry,  and  Lieutenants  F.  B. 
Sampson,  Clarence  B.  MacNeill,  H.  B.  Hinman  and  J.  A. 
McCarthy. 

The  school  started  on  January  5  and  lasted  until  April  5,  and 
some  of  the  boys  who  thought  they  had  worked  hard  before 
found  that  they  had  another  think  coming  after  they  got  into 
the  Officers'  Training  School.  It  was  one  of  the  most  gruelling 
tests  any  men  were  called  upon  to  undergo  in  training,  but  it 
turned  out  a  fine  body  of  officers. 


92  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

There  aren't  many  men  who  will  forget  their  first  Christmas 
in  the  army.  Nor  their  second,  either,  for  that  matter.  But 
the  first  one  was  perhaps  the  more  memorable  of  the  two,  so  far 
as  Camp  Devens  was  concerned,  for  these  lads  were  so  recently 
away  from  home,  and  the  thoughts  of  the  home  folks  were 
centered  on  them,  while  their  thoughts  were  on  where  they 
might  be  spending  the  next  Christmas,  their  hope  being,  of 
course,  that  they  would  be  back  home  by  that  time. 

It  seemed  as  though  everybody  set  out  to  see  how  much  they 
could  heap  on  the  men  in  the  army  in  the  way  of  Christmas 
presents.  It  happened  at  Camp  Devens  that  an  epidemic  of 
measles  was  raging,  and  for  that  reason  comparatively  few  men 
got  to  their  homes.  Only  about  4,000,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
while  some  21,000  remained  in  camp. 

The  pity  of  it  is  that  the  people  of  New  England  couldn't 
have  spent  Christmas  eve  of  191 7  at  Camp  Devens,  for  they 
would  have  learned  more  things  about  Christmas  spirit  there 
than  in  a  lifetime  in  civilian  life.  It  is  well-nigh  useless  to  try 
to  paint  a  word  picture  of  the  scene.  But  just  one  little  inci- 
dent, one  that  was  typical  of  the  spirit  throughout  the  entire 
cantonment,  brought  moisture  to  the  eyes  of  just  about  every- 
body who  saw  it,  and  at  the  same  time  a  glow  somewhere 
within  the  body,  at  the  center  of  whatever  it  is  that  governs 
our  emotions.     A  religious  person  would  call  it  the  soul. 

But  religious  or  not,  no  one  who  was  there  will  ever  forget 
their  feelings  at  seeing  whole  companies  and  regiments  of 
khaki-clad  young  men  gathered  together  in  the  wet  snow  and 
the  darkness,  while  bright  Christmas  lights  pierced  the  black 
and  sparkled  out  a  Yuletide  greeting,  and  as  the  hosts  gathered 
around  a  huge  Christmas  tree  erected  in  the  snow,  "O,  Come, 
All  Ye  Faithful"  echoed  out  across  those  barren  white  plains 
from  the  throats  of  hundreds  of  strong,  clean,  virile  young  men. 
You  may  have  heard  the  Christmas  carols  on  Beacon  Hill  on 
Christmas  eve  or  in  the  snowy  square  of  your  own  particular 
home  town,  but  these  lonesome  boys  lifting  their  fresh,  deep 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  93 

young  voices  in  praise  to  the  Prince  of  Peace  struck  a  new 
chord,  a  chord  that  will  vibrate  in  the  hearts  of  New  England 
folks  for  many  a  long  year  to  come,  whether  they  were  there  to 
hear  it  or  not.  The  last  notes  of  the  grand  old  hymn  died 
away  on  the  chilty  air,  and  swiftly  and  silently  the  men  passed 
on  into  the  night. 

Christmas  day  was  just  about  a  repetition  of  Thanksgiving, 
except  that  there  were  three  times  as  many  men  in  camp  to 
participate  in  the  celebration.  There  was  a  Christmas  dinner 
that  would  put  the  choicest  offering  of  many  a  first-class  hotel 
to  shame,  and  there  was  so  much  of  it  that  even  the  most 
determined  were  obliged  to  give  up  despairingly  and  cry, 
"enough." 

But  there  was  one  thing  that  marred  something  of  the 
Christmas  joy  for  some  of  the  older  officers.  It  was  just  about 
this  time  that  they  began  to  read  the  handwriting  on  the  wall 
as  to  the  fate  of  the  76th  Division.  These  men  of  wide  military 
experience  began  to  see,  with  the  orders  coming  one  after  the 
other  for  the  transfer  of  men  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  division, 
that  there  was  little  chance  of  its  entering  the  fight  across  the 
water  as  a  unit.  And  that  made  them  sad,  for,  regardless  of 
their  previous  affiliations,  they  had  come  to  love  this  big  New 
England  fighting  organization,  and  they  wanted  to  see  it  given 
a  chance  to  prove  itself  as  a  unit. 

Early  in  January,  1,650  men — a  mere  handful — were  trans- 
ferred from  the  Depot  Brigade  to  the  division  ranks.  But 
against  this  number  some  10,000  had  been  transferred  to  other 
units  from  the  ranks  of  the  division.  Just  as  soon  as  they  would 
get  one  group  well  trained,  orders  would  come  to  send  them 
off  somewhere  else.  It  was  heart-breaking.  And  they  knew 
in  their  hearts  that  it  could  only  mean  that  the  76th  Division, 
N.  A.,  was  destined  to  become  a  Depot  Division,  one  from 
which  drafts  of  men  may  be  drawn  to  fill  gaping  ranks  in 
other  units. 

This  is  typical  of  what  was  happening :     Soon  after  the  i  ,650 


94  FORGING  THE   SWORD 

men  referred  to  above  were  transferred  from  the  Depot  Brigade 
to  the  division,  orders  came  to  send  1,775  more  men  to  Camp 
Greene  at  Charlotte,  North  Carohna.  When  an  order  of  this 
kind  came  through  practically  every  unit  in  the  division  was 
hit  by  it.  In  the  instance  of  these  1,775  they  were  selected  as 
follows:  65  from  the  302d  Machine  Gun  Battalion,  239  from 
the  301st  Infantry,  311  from  the  302d  Infantry,  317  from  the 
303d  Infantry,  318  from  the  304th  Infantry,  25  from  the  303d 
Machine  Gun  Battalion,  and  only  500  from  the  151st  Depot 
Brigade. 

This  transfer  left  a  scant  25,000  men  in  camp,  while  about 
15,000  had  been  transferred  to  other  divisions,  and  many  of 
them  were  already  overseas.  It  was  typical  of  the  76th 
Division's  hard  luck. 

During  the  first  winter  an  order  came  through  from  Wash- 
ington to  have  a  seal  designed  for  the  division.  At  that  time 
it  was  not  stated  what  the  seal  was  to  be  used  for  and  few 
realized  that,  instead  of  a  seal,  it  was  really  an  insignia  that 
was  required.  Major  James  Amory  Sullivan,  commander  of 
the  303d  Machine  Gun  Battalion  and  a  widely  known  Boston 
artist,  was  asked  if  he  would  undertake  the  work,  which  he 
did,  designing  and  painting  a  very  beautiful  and  appropriate 
emblem.  The  crest  of  the  seal  was  made  up  of  the  emblems  of 
the  various  arms  of  the  service,  including  a  hand  grenade.  The 
upper  strip  of  the  seal  itself  contained  the  emblem  of  the  eldest 
son,  a  bar  and  three  triangles,  the  meaning  being  that  the  76th 
Division  was  the  first  National  Army  Division  to  be  drawn 
from  New  England.  The  shield  or  main  body  of  the  seal  was 
a  white  background  bearing  an  up-rooted  tree  with  thirteen 
leaves.  The  uprooted  tree  represented  the  sons  of  New  Eng- 
land taken  from  their  homes  and  sent  to  France  to  fight, 
while  the  thirteen  leaves  were  the  thirteen  original  states.  At 
the  top  of  the  crest  appeared  an  unfinished  wagon  wheel,  mean- 
ing a  task  not  yet  completed.  Back  of  it  all  and  supporting 
the  shield  itself  were  the  figures  76,  denoting  the  number  of  the 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  95 

division,  and,  incidentally,  the  year  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence. 

Later  it  became  known  that  what  was  wanted  was  an  in- 
signia to  be  stenciled  on  all  baggage  and  to  be  worn  on  the 
shoulder  as  a  distinctive  divisional  emblem.  This  beautiful 
seal  was  too  complicated  for  this  purpose,  so,  after  the  76th  got 
to  France,  the  outline  of  the  ship  Mayflower  was  adopted. 

The  Liberty  Theater,  something  hitherto  undreamed  of  as  a 
part  of  the  equipment  necessary  for  training  men  to  fight,  was 
opened  at  Camp  Devens  on  February  11  of  1918.  It  was  a 
regular  theater  built  to  accommodate  nearly  3,000  men,  paid 
for  by  the  Government,  through  the  War  Camp  Community 
Service,  run  by  soldiers  and  financially  self-supporting.  The 
actors  were  temporary  Government  employees,  and  more  than 
a  dozen  stock  companies  were  organized  to  tour  the  canton- 
ments in  the  United  States  and  play  in  the  Liberty  Theaters. 
The  Devens  Liberty  Theater  opened  with  "Baby  Mine," 
followed  by  "Kick  In."  The  companies  were  good  and  the 
actors  and  actresses  did  real  patriotic  service.  When  there 
were  no  real  plays  offered,  moving  pictures  were  shown  at  the 
theater,  and  it  afforded  the  men  a  place  inside  the  camp  for 
their  amusement. 

Then,  too,  companies  of  actors  playing  at  Boston  theaters 
were  coming  to  Camp  Devens  on  Sunday  afternoons.  On  one 
memorable  occasion  Major  Henry  L.  Higginson,  the  Boston 
banker,  brought  up  an  array  of  theatrical  stars  such  as  is 
seldom  found  gathered  together  except  in  the  festivities  of  the 
Friars'  Club  or  the  annual  Lambs'  Gambol.  No  admission 
was  charged  to  these  latter  entertainments,  and  the  men  were 
able  to  see  free  an  entertainment  that  a  city  audience  would 
have  paid  enormous  prices  to  attend.  It  spoke  well  for  the 
spirit  of  the  theatrical  people  of  America  when  they  were  will- 
ing, repeatedly,  to  give  their  only  rest  day  to  the  soldiers. 

Major-General  Hodges  returned  from  France  on  February 
13,  just  in  time  to  see  the  last  15  per  cent  of  the  first  draft  come 


96  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

in.  While  abroad  he  had  taken  a  course  of  instruction  at  the 
battle  front,  spending  ten  days  with  the  British,  a  like  period 
with  the  French  and  some  time  in  the  American  training  areas 
and  at  American  Headquarters.  With  his  return  training  was 
accelerated  to  an  even  greater  degree. 

The  lesson  of  what  the  army  does  for  a  young  man  was  never 
better  taught  than  by  the  comparison  between  the  men  of  the 
first  quotas  to  reach  camp  and  the  men  who  came  in  as  the  last 
15  per  cent.  It  was  the  usual  contrast  between  "rookies"  and 
veterans,  and  the  "rookies"  themselves  noticed  the  difference 
and  dug  in  their  toes  to  catch  up.  There  were  about  6,000  men 
in  this  last  15  per  cent. 

Naturally  they  had  to  stand  a  lot  of  "joshing"  from  their 
brothers  who  had  been  "in"  longer.  But  it  was  good-natured 
fun  for  the  most  part.  On  the  night  of  the  arrival  of  the  last 
of  these  6,000,  when  a  dozen  or  more  of  the  new  ones  were 
gathered  together  in  a  barrack  room,  there  was  a  sudden  back- 
fire from  a  motorcycle  far  enough  down  the  company  street  so 
that  the  noise  of  the  motor  could  not  be  heard.  But  the  report 
was  heard  all  right,  and  as  it  echoed  through  the  building  a 
groan  escaped  from  a  newly  made  sergeant. 

"There!"  he  wailed.  "That's  what  they  get  for  letting 
these  "rookies"  go  around  as  soon  as  they  get  here  without 
telling  them  the  pass  word !  Another  one  shot,  and  now  we'll 
have  to  pick  him  up  and  bury  him  in  the  morning!" 

He  was  a  good  actor,  but  he  had  hard  work  restraining  his 
laughter  as  half  a  dozen  pale-faced  "rookies"  quietly  slipped 
away  toward  their  bunks.  How  were  they  to  know  that  pass 
words  weren't  used  at  Camp  Devens? 

It  wasn't  until  March  that  the  301st  Field  Artillery  and  the 
302d  and  303d  Infantry  Regiments  got  their  regimental  colors. 
And  when  they  did  receive  them  there  was  little  that  was  spec- 
tacular about  the  ceremony.  The  regimental  flags  for  these 
three  regiments  were  presented  by  the  National  First  Aid 
Association  of  America.     Three  representatives  of  the  associa- 


This  is  What  the  English  Instructor  Taught  Devens  Doughboys 

TO  Do,  AND  They  Were  Apt  Pupils — ^Disarming  an 

•  Enemy  Bare-Handed 


"Don't  Dirty  the  Hilt!"     Bayonet  Practice  with  Gas  Masks 


Learning  to  Feed  Hungry  Guns 


Ready  for  Action  and  Still  at  Camp  Devens 


M 


gfegaZ^" 


^<.    ', 


The  "No  Man's  Land"  at  Devens 


Though  These  Trenches  Look  Very  Much  Like  Those  Official  War 

Pictures  Taken  in  France,  They  Were  Built  by  the 

301  ST  Engineers  at  Camp  Devens 


Photo  by  International  Film  Service,  Inc. 

The  Smile  That  Came  from  Dixie  to  Devens 


And  the  Dusky  Lads  Could  Soldier,  Too! 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  97 

tion  were  about  the  only  civilians  at  the  presentation.  They 
were  Roscoe  Green  Wells,  vice-president;  Mrs.  Wells,  secretary, 
and  Miss  Elizabeth  Warner,  a  member.  They  all  came  from 
Arlington,  Massachusetts,  and  brought  the  flags  with  them, 
and  they  never  made  gifts  that  were  appreciated  more. 

On  March  18  came  the  welcome  news  that  the  76th  Division 
was  to  be  filled  up  to  war  strength,  the  men  to  do  this  coming 
from  the  second  draft.  The  division  as  a  skeleton  organiza- 
tion was  a  highly  trained  outfit,  and  the  way  they  absorbed  the 
new  material,  once  it  began  to  arrive,  was  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  things  about  the  organization  of  the  division  as  it 
sailed  away.  Just  before  the  second  draft  order  was  issued, 
however,  came  orders  from  the  War  Department  prohibiting 
the  voluntary  induction  of  men  into  the  service  before  they 
were  called  in  the  draft.  Many  of  the  young  men  were  getting 
impatient  at  the  delay  and  were  throwing  up  their  jobs  and 
reporting  at  camp  of  their  own  accord.  They  were  all  accepted 
up  to  the  time  of  the  receipt  of  the  order,  of  course.  The  first 
quotas  of  the  second  draft  began  to  arrive  on  March  29,  and  on 
that  day  2,700  of  them  came  in. 

As  the  others  arrived  the  real  training  of  the  division  began. 
Those  who  had  been  in  the  service  through  the  winter  were 
trained  soldiers  by  now,  of  course,  but  through  the  winter  what 
they  had  done  had  been  "marking  time"  compared  to  the 
brand  of  training  that  was  started  with  the  arrival  of  spring. 

For  one  thing,  real  artillery  fire  began  in  March.  A  fine 
artillery  range  was  ready  out  in  the  wild  country  back  of  the 
camp,  and,  on  March  25,  Battery  C  of  the  302d  Field  Artillery 
went  out  there  with  their  four  eighteen-pounders.  Corporal 
Earl  J.  Place,  a  Newport,  Vermont,  boy  sent  the  first  shell,  fired 
by  a  cannon  of  the  76th  Division,  whistling  and  screeching 
away  to  destruction,  firing  at  a  point  on  a  Harvard  hillside  a 
mile  and  a  half  away.  And  ten  seconds  later  the  other  three 
pieces  of  the  battery  had  boomed  forth  their  first  shots. 

The  big  German  drive  was  in  full  swing  over  in  France  and 


98  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

the  Huns  were  sweeping  onward  day  by  day.  So  this  intensive 
training  was  just  "candy"  for  the  New  Englanders,  who  were 
impatient  over  their  prolonged  stay  in  this  country.  The 
foreign  attaches  showed  how  they  felt  about  the  advance  of 
the  Germans  by  the  way  they  went  after  the  training  of  the 
76th  Division,  but  they  couldn't  drive  the  Yanks  a  bit  too  hard 
to  suit  them. 


Chapter  XII 
FINISHING  TOUCHES 

All  during  the  spring  days  field  maneuvers  were  going  on 
out  on  the  various  ranges  around  Ayer,  Shirley,  Harvard, 
Bolton  and  Lancaster.  Just  about  every  kind  of  fighting 
known  to  man  or  beast  was  being  practised.  During  the  days 
the  cantonment  proper  looked  almost  deserted,  but  the  coun- 
try-side was  resounding  with  the  thunder  of  artillery,  the  crash 
of  grenades  and  one-pounder  cannon,  the  "  rat- tat- tat- tat "  of 
machine  guns  and  automatic  rifles,  the  desultory  or  rapid  fire 
of  rifles  and  the  shouts  and  yells  of  charging  hordes  of  helmeted, 
khaki-clad  New  England  doughboys. 

At  night  the  sky  was  aflame  with  star  shells  and  rockets  and 
colored  fire,  while  out  in  the  darkness  New  England  lads  were 
in  the  trenches  or  crawling  silently  across  some  "No  Man's 
Land, "  while  machine  guns  sent  a  deadly  hail  over  their  backs 
at  some  invisible  "enemy."  And  many  a  lad,  worming  his 
way  through  the  darkness  of  some  Camp  Devens  "  battlefield, " 
thought  of  his  buddies  over  there  in  France,  who  were  probably 
doing  the  same  thing,  only  in  the  face  of  a  real  enemy  instead 
of  an  imaginery  or  "friendly"  one,  where  death  might  lurk 
behind  the  next  shadow.  The  longing  in  the  heart  of  the  lad 
on  the  New  England  "battlefield"  needs  neither  comment  nor 
description. 

And  all  through  these  days  and  nights  the  best  kind  of 
sporting  spirit  was  ripening  into  a  real  friendship  between 
the  officers  and  men  of  this  National  Army.  The  men  were 
good  soldiers.  They  knew  the  meaning  of  discipline  and 
they  knew  how  to  observe  it.  And  out  of  this  knowledge  had 
grown  the  friendship  that  they  had  hardly  ever  thought  existed 
on  the  part  of  their  officers.  A  couple  of  incidents  help  to 
define  it: 

99 


100  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Colonel  Frank  Tompkins,  commander  of  the  301st  Infantry, 
found  a  young  officer  trying  to  show  a  "rookie"  how  to  fire  a 
rifle  in  the  army  way.  The  colonel  watched  for  a  moment  and 
then  told  the  officer  to  let  the  boy  fire  in  his  own  way.  The 
"rookie, "  glad  of  this  opportunity  to  show  how  he  could  shoot 
if  let  alone,  took  a  new  position  and  fired,  making  two  bull's- 
eyes  in  succession. 

" Now, "  said  Colonel  Tompkins  smiling,  "you  fire  your  way 
and  I'll  fire  in  the  army  way,  and  I'll  shoot  you  five  shots  for  a 
twenty-four  hour  pass." 

The  lad  laughed  and  agreed  to  this  eagerly.  But  Colonel 
Tompkins  made  a  score  of  twenty-four  out  of  a  possible  twenty- 
five  and  won,  leaving  the  lad  far  behind.  The  "rookie "  recog- 
nized the  lesson  and  settled  down  to  learn  that  army  method 
or  bust.  At  the  same  time  he  had  gained  a  mighty  respect  for 
the  colonel.     That  incident  is  typical  of  Colonel  Tompkins. 

And  another  incident,  involving  a  colonel  whom  one  of  the 
colored  draftees  who  came  in  from  Florida  on  the  last  day  of 
March,  described  as  "de  boss  with  dem  birds  on  his  coUah": 

This  particular  colonel  was  passing  one  of  the  barracks  in  the 
Depot  Brigade  occupied  by  the  colored  soldiers.  The  big 
black  fellow  was  leaning  up  against  the  building  reading  a 
letter,  and  the  colonel  passed  right  by  him,  but  the  man  did  not 
salute  or  even  notice  that  an  officer  was  present.  So  the  col- 
onel spoke  to  him  about  it  very  kindly,  starting  in  to  explain 
to  him  why  he  should  salute  all  officers.  The  moment  the 
colonel  spoke,  however,  the  darky  straightened  up  and  snapped 
off  a  salute  that  nearly  threw  him  off  his  feet. 

"Suh, "  he  said  earnestly,  "Suh,  Ah  done  knows  dat  Ah  ought 
to  have  saluted  yuh,  suh,  but  dis  yere  lettah  f 'um  mah  Anna- 
belle  is  jes'  so  daggone  drippin'  with  love  dat  Ah  done  fergit  all 
about  yo'  ahmy  fo'  a  moment,  suh.  Ah  sho'  would  admiah  t' 
have  yuh  excuse  me,  suh,  an'  Ah  suttinly  won't  fergit  agin,  suh, 
Annabelle  or  no  Annabelle,  suh." 

The  colonel  laughed,  returned  the  salute  and  walked  away. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  loi 

The  darky  ran  for  the  barracks  and  told  his  dusky  brethren 
about  it  and  they  all  set  out  hunting  for  officers  to  salute. 

There  were  nearly  2,000  colored  troops  in  Camp  Devens  at 
this  time.  They  were  sent  to  the  New  England  cantonment  to 
form  labor  battalions,  and  they  came  in  clad  in  light  suits  and 
straw  hats,  luckily  just  in  time  to  miss  most  of  the  cold  weather. 
The  skilled  men  among  them  were  singled  out  for  special  serv- 
ice, and  all  the  rest  became  laborers.  They  were  quartered 
separately  from  the  white  soldiers,  and  by  their  light-hearted- 
ness  and  love  of  fun,  coupled  with  their  peculiar  expressions, 
they  proved  a  never-failing  reservoir  of  fun  and  good  cheer  to 
the  whole  camp. 

On  April  19  the  Officers'  Training  School  at  Camp  Devens 
came  to  a  close,  with  a  series  of  joyful  and  informal  parties  that 
ranked  with  anything  of  the  kind  that  had  ever  been  held 
before  in  the  whole  history  of  the  camp.  It  had  been  the 
hardest  fifteen  weeks  in  the  experience  of  most  of  the  lads 
who  graduated,  and  when  it  was  over  and  the  opportunity 
came  to  relax  and  lark  a  little,  they  welcomed  it  with  all  the 
enthusiasm  of  their  youth. 

Of  the  school  that  was  started  in  January  only  about  400 
were  graduated.  Many  had  dropped  out  during  the  course 
and  there  were  about  100  who  did  not  graduate,  though  they 
were  recommended  to  be  sent  to  the  next  school  and  given 
another  chance. 

Those  young  men  who  were  commissioned,  however,  will 
never  forget  the  day  of  their  graduation,  for  they  heard  a 
personal  talk  from  the  commanding  general  himself,  something 
they  had  not  had  before.  It  was  the  admonition  of  an  old 
soldier  to  a  group  of  young  ones,  and  they  paid  great  heed  to 
General  Hodges'  message  to  them  as  they  started  out  to  wear 
shoulder  straps. 

The  general's  message  was  typically  American.  Its  sub- 
stance was:  "Above  all  you  must  be  just." 

"Play  no  favorites  and  show  absolute  fairness  with  your  men, 


102  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

if  you  are  to  be  good  officers.  Put  aside  all  thought  of  per- 
sonal reward  and  devote  your  whole  service  to  your  country. 
You  must  respect  your  men,  too,  and  by  your  respect  you  will 
win  theirs. " 

This  was  the  soldier's  creed  set  forth  by  General  Hodges. 
And  he  spoke  words  of  encouragement  to  those  who  failed, 
telling  them  that,  simply  because  they  had  not  been  given  their 
commissions  at  the  end  of  the  first  course,  it  did  not  signify 
that  they  would  never  be  commissioned  or  that  they  would  not 
make  good  officers. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Moor  N.  Falls,  commander  of  the 
school,  also  spoke  to  the  men,  congratulating  them  on  the 
manner  in  which  they  had  applied  themselves  to  the  difficult 
task  of  winning  a  commission  and  thanking  them  for  the  help 
they  had  given  him  in  making  the  school  a  success.  He 
expressed  his  personal  pride  in  each  and  every  one  of  them. 

On  April  23  the  301st  Engineers  were  presented  with  their 
regimental  colors.  The  beautiful  scarlet  flag  was  a  gift  of 
H.  J.  Lynd  of  Pawtucket,  Rhode  Island,  who  took  a  great 
personal  interest  in  this  Rhode  Island  Regiment.  The  pre- 
sentation of  the  flag  made  one  of  the  prettiest  ceremonies  yet 
seen  at  Camp  Devens,  for  these  Rhode  Island  lads  were  full  of 
pep  and  ginger,  and  when  they  did  a  thing  it  came  pretty 
near  being  done  right.  The  flag  was  turned  over  to  Major 
J.  Edward  Cassidy  by  Captain  H.  E.  Porter,  the  adjutant. 

It  was  not  until  April  26,  1918,  "Liberty  day, "  that  Major- 
General  Hodges  saw  his  entire  command  brought  together  on 
one  field,  and  New  England  folks  who  made  it  a  point  to  be 
there  got  some  idea  of  the  actual  size  of  a  modern  Army  Di- 
vision. It  was  all  right  to  tell  them  that  here  were  more  men 
in  a  single  fighting  machine  than  we  had  in  our  entire  army  at 
the  time  of  the  Spanish  War,  but  until  they  saw  those  uni- 
formed hosts  sweep  confidently  onto  the  great  parade  field  and 
wheel  smoothly  into  line,  while  ten  huge  military  bands  played 
brisk  martial  music,  they  didn't  quite  grasp  the  magnitude  of 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  103 

it.  This  was  truly  an  historic  event  for  New  England.  And 
because  the  War  Department  had  only  ordered  the  review  the 
day  before  it  took  place,  there  was  no  chance  to  let  people  know 
about  it  in  time  for  them  to  plan  to  be  there,  so  there  were 
only  about  500  people  present  from  outside  the  camp. 

In  May  there  was  started  another  school,  in  addition  to  the 
thirty  odd  that  were  still  running.  But  the  latest  school, 
while  it  was  chiefly  for  the  instruction  of  staff  and  field  officers, 
from  the  commanding  general  down,  and  was  known  as  the 
Staff  and  Field  Officers'  School,  took  in  practically  every  officer 
and  man  in  the  division  before  it  was  over.  The  school  was 
run  under  the  direction  of  Major  M.  F.  Day  of  the  British 
General  Staff,  assisted  by  the  other  British  officers  already 
stationed  at  the  camp;  Major  Rosseau,  Captain  Roussel, 
Captain  Filipo,  all  of  the  French  Mission,  and  other  French 
and  British  officers  who  had  been  training  the  men  of  the 
division  for  weeks. 

The  course  lasted  for  three  weeks.  The  part  the  men  had  in 
it  was  important,  for  they  participated  in  all  kinds  of  maneu- 
vers in  larger  bodies  than  ever  before.  Battalions  of  infantry 
were  moved  out  to  the  artillery  and  combat  ranges  at  Still 
River,  and  here  they  camped  for  days,  "fighting  battles"  day 
and  night  under  all  kinds  of  conditions  and  under  nearly  all 
kinds  of  fire. 

When  the  Staff  School  started  the  men  of  the  76th  Division 
got  their  first  taste  of  advancing  under  their  own  barrage. 
For  the  guns  of  the  artillery  were  thundering  every  day,  send- 
ing streams  of  shells  out  over  the  rugged  landscape  and  tearing 
it  to  pieces.  Close  in  under  these  shells  the  lads  of  New  Eng- 
land learned  to  advance. 

And  every  arm  of  the  service,  with  the  exception  of  the 
liquid  flame  fighters,  got  a  chance  to  put  what  they  had 
learned  into  practice.  There  were  "casualties"  in  every 
engagement,  almost.  At  first  these  "casualties"  struck  the 
men  as  being  funny.     A  line  of  men  would  be  advancing,  when 


104  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

suddenly  several  messengers  would  dash  up  and  thrust  pieces 
of  paper  into  the  hands  of  several  men  in  each  "wave. "  Im- 
mediately these  men  would  drop  to  the  ground,  and  pretty 
soon  along  would  come  stretcher  bearers  and  first-aid  men. 
On  the  piece  of  paper  in  each  man's  hand  would  be  a  description 
of  the  "wound"  he  had  received.  If  the  wound  was  a  minor 
one  the  man  might  be  carried  back  to  the  dressing  station  for 
treatment.  If  it  was  major,  however,  he  would  be  "plugged, " 
bound  and  given  first-aid  treatment  right  then  and  there  and 
then  carried  back  to  the  dressing  station  for  further  treatment. 

All  kinds  of  accidents  were  arranged.  Wires  were  cut  by 
enemy  prowlers  and  by  shell  fire.  Parties  of  men  got  lost. 
Everything  that  could  happen  under  actual  war  conditions  did 
happen  under  the  sham  conditions,  and  both  officers  and  men 
learned  what  to  do.  Following  each  maneuver  the  staff  and 
field  officers  gathered  and  held  critiques,  while  the  foreign 
veterans  listened  and  instructed  and  explained.  It  was  won- 
derful training,  and  training  that  both  officers  and  men  were 
to  appreciate  later  on. 

In  the  meantime  the  division  was  filling  up  still  more.  A 
new  Officers'  Training  School  was  started  in  May  with  nearly 
1,000  candidates,  part  of  whom  came  from  colleges  and  univer- 
sities throughout  New  England.  But  to  replace  these  men 
some  2,200  recruits  arrived  at  Devens  from  Camp  Upton,  New 
York,  on  May  21.  Of  course  the  division  was  glad  to  get 
them  and  they  were  good  soldiers  and  good  fellows  for  the  most 
part,  but  some  felt  that  by  failing  to  keep  the  division  pri- 
marily and  fundamentally  a  New  England  outfit,  valuable 
spirit  was  lost.  And  all  the  time  New  England  men  were 
being  sent  to  other  camps  to  fill  up  other  divisions.  It  did  seem 
as  though  the  filling  up  of  the  76th  might  have  been  done 
from  New  England.  But  the  regiments  were  brought  up  to 
war  strength,  and,  after  all,  that  was  the  main  point. 

While  the  training  of  the  76th  Division  was  being  rushed  to 
a  close,  changes  and  additional  departures  were  of  almost  daily 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  105 

occurrence  in  the  cantonment,  which  would  go  on  training 
troops  long  after  the  76th  Division  sailed  for  France. 

On  June  3  the  entire  camp  was  startled  by  the  announcement 
that  100  German  prisoners  of  war  had  arrived  from  the  prison 
camp  at  Fort  McPherson,  Georgia.  These  men  had  all  been 
sailors  on  the  German  sea  raider  Kronprinz  Wilhelm.  But 
Camp  Devens  proper  didn't  see  them  at  all,  for  they  came  up  in 
charge  of  25  Regular  Army  doughboys  and  one  officer,  and  were 
sent  to  a  War  Prison  Barracks  that  had  been  established  out  in 
the  vicinity  of  Still  River.  Here  the  Government  had  leased 
more  than  200  acres  of  fertile  farm  land,  and  it  was  proposed  to 
have  the  German  prisoners  work  the  farms  that  would  furnish 
much  subsistence  for  Camp  Devens. 

Then  a  "new  stunt"  was  announced  whereby  men  who  were 
physically  unqualified  for  active  military  service  were  to  be 
given  a  system  of  training  and  treatment  that  would  cure  them 
and  make  them  fit.  All  such  men  were  transferred  into  one 
group  which  became  known  as  the  Development  Battalion. 
Later  there  were  four  Development  Battalions,  each  for  certain 
kinds  of  physical  defects. 

Many  a  man  who  was  just  aching  to  get  across  to  France  to 
fight,  but  who  was  prevented  from  so  doing  because  he  was  sent 
to  the  Development  Battalion,  was  utterly  miserable  there 
until  he  was  cured  and  sent  to  a  fighting  outfit.  But  there  was 
a  large  and  ever  growing  suspicion  among  many  of  the  medical 
officers  that  the  Development  Battalions  provided  a  safe  hiding 
place  for  a  considerable  number  of  shirkers  who  were  willing 
to  endure  almost  anything  rather  than  go  across  to  France. 
Some  were  cured  and  sent  off  anyway,  but  others  stayed  there 
until  the  end  of  the  war,  if  they  were  clever  enough  to  fool  the 
doctors.  One  thing  is  certain,  that  when  demobilization  orders 
came  through  and  it  was  stipulated  that  only  men  who  were 
physically  fit  should  be  discharged  at  once,  more  remarkable 
and  swift  cures  were  effected  in  the  Development  Battalions 
than  in  any  other  outfits. 


io6  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

And  in  June,  too,  while  the  training  of  the  division  was 
being  rushed  to  a  close,  the  trade  tests  system  was  inaugurated 
at  Camp  Devens.  Through  these  tests  every  man  had  to 
show  the  miUtary  authorities  the  goods  before  he  was  assigned 
to  any  special  brand  of  work.  There  were  tests  for  automo- 
bile men,  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  electricians,  masons,  sten- 
ographers, etc.,  and  lists  were  made  up  showing  which  men  had 
qualified  in  the  various  branches  of  work.  So  when  an  organ- 
ization wanted  any  specially  trained  men,  all  that  had  to  be 
done  was  to  look  over  the  lists  at  the  trade  tests  building 
and  the  names  and  location  of  the  men  wanted  would  be 
forthcoming. 

Camp  Devens  led  every  other  camp  in  the  country  in  the 
matter  of  the  mental  development  of  the  men  inducted,  accord- 
ing to  statistics  given  out  at  Headquarters  on  June  8.  These 
statistics  showed  that  there  had  been  fewer  discharges  at 
Camp  Devens  than  at  any  other  camp  for  nervous  and  mental 
diseases.  Devens  also  did  well  in  the  matter  of  War  Risk 
Insurance.  Up  to  June  of  1918,  51,000  men  had  taken  out 
$449,000,000  worth  of  Government  insurance. 

The  Staff  and  Field  Officers'  School  ended  on  June  7,  after 
three  weeks  of  the  hardest  kind  of  campaigning  on  the  part  of 
both  officers  and  men.  A  tremendous,  thrilling  finish,  in  which 
the  entire  division  would  take  part,  was  planned  but  had  to  be 
abandoned  at  the  last  moment  because  of  rain,  which  fell  in 
torrents.  But  the  battles  that  were  fought  during  that  three 
weeks — even  though  they  were  sham — ^will  long  be  remem- 
bered by  New  England,  and  especially  by  the  men  who  took 
part  in  them,  and  many  are  of  the  opinion  that  Amann  Field, 
where  these  New  England  boys  of  ours  trained  to  do  battle  in 
the  world-wide  struggle  for  democracy,  should  be  preserved  as 
a  memorial  to  their  patriotism  and  devotion  to  their  country. 

Following  the  completion  of  the  staff  and  field  officers' 
course,  special  schools  for  captains  and  field  officers  were  ar- 
ranged to  "top  off  "with.     Among  these  was  a  school  for  rapid 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  107 

and  accurate  rifle  fire,  a  supplementary  bayonet  course,  a 
motor-cycle  dispatch  riders'  school  and  a  school  for  automatic 
riflemen.  A  long  list  of  "Do's  and  Don't's"  was  issued  for 
both  officers  and  men,  but  it  was  gratifying  to  note  that  the 
chief  admonition  was  typically  American,  and  almost  worth 
all  the  rest  put  together.  It  consisted  of  just  three  words: 
"Use  Common  Sense!" 


Chapter  XIII 
BON  VOYAGE 

The  inspection  of  the  76th  Division  for  overseas  service  be- 
gan on  June  12,  but  of  course  the  public  wasn't  supposed  to 
know  what  the  inspection  was  really  for.  It  was  supposed  to 
herald  another  shake-up  in  the  division  personnel,  but  pretty 
nearly  everybody  who  was  interested  realized  that  the  hour  was 
approaching  and  recognized  the  inspection  as  final.  Three 
officers  from  the  Inspector-General's  Department  in  Washing- 
ton came  to  camp  to  inspect  thedivision.  They  were  Brigadier- 
General  Thomas  Q.  Donaldson,  Colonel  Oliver  L.  Spaulding 
and  Major  Charles  S.  Hamilton.  Their  official  visit  lasted 
several  days. 

The  final  review  of  the  76th  Division  was  held  on  June  19. 
General  Donaldson  and  his  assistants  had  looked  over  the  out- 
fit from  top  to  bottom,  and  their  final  test  was  a  grand  review. 
Pretty  nearly  everybody  knew  that  this  was  the  last  appearance 
in  public  of  the  outfit,  before  it  went  to  France,  at  least,  but 
few  who  saw  the  76th  on  that  day  realized  that  it  was  the  last 
time  New  England  would  ever  see  the  division  gathered  to- 
gether in  this  country.  But  it  was  the  last  appearance,  for 
almost  as  soon  as  the  division  got  overseas  it  was  split  up  and 
portions  of  it  sent  to  almost  every  part  of  the  American 
Expeditionary  Force.  The  men  came  home  in  small  groups, 
some  of  them  not  arriving  until  weeks  after  other  members  of 
the  outfit  had  been  returned  to  civilian  life.  The  76th  Divi- 
sion never  paraded  again  on  its  home  soil,  but  after  this  review 
there  could  be  no  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  most  critical  as  to 
the  fitness  of  the  men  for  overseas  service. 

Farewells  were  being  said.  Not  in  so  many  words,  but  fare- 
wells nevertheless.     One  of  the  most  impressive  of  all  the 

108 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  109 

ceremonies  ever  held  for  the  76th  Division  was  on  Sunday, 
June  16,  when  Cardinal  O'Connell  came  up  from  Boston  and 
officially  bestowed  his  blessing  on  the  Devens  soldiers.  It  was 
his  first  official  visit  to  Devens  and  his  last  to  the  76th  Division. 

More  than  5,000  soldiers  knelt  reverently  in  the  open  that 
Sunday  morning  and  heard  the  cardinal's  parting  message  to 
them.  It  was  a  message  ringing  with  patriotism.  These  men 
were  called  by  His  Eminence  "soldiers  of  a  glorious  American 
Army,  invincible  in  spirit  and  discipline  and  sustained  by  their 
faith  with  a  courage  which  is  the  banner  of  the  heart  and  which 
enables  a  man  to  face  danger  and  death  or  any  duty  without 
fear  or  thought  of  consequence." 

He  called  them  "an  army  of  invincible  giants,"  and  there 
was  a  farewell  note  at  the  close  of  his  address  when  he  said : 

You  will  face  whatever  happens,  even  if  it  be  death  itself,  because  you 
know  that  the  Hand  of  God  is  on  your  head  in  benediction,  and  our  beloved 
country  stands  by  watching  you  today.  It  needs  your  valor,  it  needs  your 
courage,  and  your  fathers,  mothers  and  friends  are  all  praying  to  God  to 
keep  your  hearts  pure,  your  souls  upright  and  courageous,  in  order  that  you 
may  come  forth  like  the  Crusaders  of  Old  and  win  in  the  cause  of  God  and 
America.     May  God  bless  you  all  and  keep  you  in  His  Holy  Name. 

Bishop  William  Lawrence  came  to  Camp  Devens  the  follow- 
ing Sunday  and  delivered  a  farewell  address  to  the  men  in  which 
he  struck  a  chord  of  patriotic  ardor  that  represented  the  feel- 
ings of  the  people  of  all  New  England  as  their  sons  were  about 
to  go  forth  to  battle  and  join  the  lads  from  our  Northeastern 
States  who  were  already  over  there  and  in  the  thick  of  the 
fighting.  He  told  these  men  that  God's  cause  was  not  going 
to  fail  and  that  they  had  that  cause  in  their  hands. 

Naturalization  of  all  aliens  in  the  division  started  on  Mon- 
day morning,  June  24,  so  that  all  the  men  who  went  across  in 
the  division  might  go  as  full-fledged  American  citizens.  Prec- 
edents were  shattered  all  to  blazes  in  order  that  this  might  be 
done,  and  the  Federal  District  Court  sat  for  the  first  time  in  its 
history  outside  a  conventional  court  chamber. 


no  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

The  first  naturalization  ceremony  was  an  impressive  one. 
Judge  James  H.  Morton,  Jr.,  came  to  Camp  Devens  and  opened 
court  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Auditorium,  sitting  on  a  camp  chair 
and  presiding  from  behind  a  kitchen  table.  Before  him  stood 
800  men  seeking  citizenship — the  first  of  5,500  to  be  so  natu- 
ralized— and  every  man  dressed  in  an  American  uniform,  ready 
to  pledge  their  allegiance  and  their  lives  to  the  United  States. 
At  a  signal  from  the  court  officer,  those  tanned  and  brawny 
hands  shot  into  the  air  and  they  took  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  Uncle  Sam.  Then  they  listened  to  an  inspiring  speech 
by  Judge  Morton.  Italians,  Russians,  Turks,  Portuguese, 
Norwegians,  Greeks,  Swiss,  Belgians,  Swedes,  Roumanians, 
Dutch,  Persians,  Austrians  and  subjects  of  Great  Britain 
walked  into  that  court.  American  citizens  and  soldiers 
walked  out. 

Then  came  the  Fourth  of  July.  It's  always  a  big  event  here 
in  God's  Country,  but  the  Fourth  of  July  of  1918  was  probably 
next  to  the  biggest  in  the  history  of  all  New  England.  For 
that  historic  day  found  at  least  part  of  the  76th  Division  on  its 
way  to  the  transports  that  were  to  take  them  to  France.  No 
more  appropriate  day  could  have  been  selected. 

Hundreds  in  New  England  knew  that  the  76th  Division  had 
gone.  Most  of  the  men  got  to  their  homes  just  before  they 
sailed,  and  they  had  told  the  home  folks  that  this  would 
probably  be.  their  last  visit  for  some  time.  But  there  were 
hundreds  of  thousands  who  didn't  know  it;  who  had  no  idea 
that  28,000  sturdy  New  England  lads  had  quickly  and  quietly 
passed  from  their  home  shores  to  huge  transports,  which  had 
immediately  put  out  to  sea  on  the  first  leg  of  the  race  to  the 
big  adventure. 

And  not  until  July  24,  twenty  days  after  the  first  unit  of  the 
76th  Division  had  sailed,  was  it  possible  for  the  newspapers  to 
tell  the  world  the  biggest  story  in  the  history  of  the  National 
Army  Division  that  had  its  beginning  at  Camp  Devens  on 
September  5, 191 7 ;  that  story  of  the  period  between  July  3  and 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  in 

15,  when  Yankee  hosts  forsook  their  homeland  for  the  blood- 
soaked  fields  of  France,  and  did  it  happily  and  gladly.  For 
thirteen  happy  days  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrim  country  went  out  of 
Camp  Devens  singing  and  shouting,  happy  in  the  thought  that 
the  thing  for  which  they  had  trained  and  worked  and  sweated 
through  ten  long  months  was  at  last  to  be  realized.  They 
sailed  from  several  different  points,  including  New  York, 
Boston  and  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia. 

On  "the  night  before  the  Fourth"  the  76th  Division  Head- 
quarters ceased  to  exist  at  Camp  Devens,  only  to  open  simul- 
taneously at  a  "Port  of  Embarkation."  At  3  o'clock  that 
afternoon  Colonel  Charles  C.  Smith  led  his  command  of  men 
from  the  Cape  District,  the  302d  Infantry,  from  the  main 
parade  ground  at  Devens  to  the  waiting  trains.  It  was  the 
first  outfit  to  start  for  the  battlefields  that  almost  every  man 
had  been  talking  about  since  the  first  day  he  donned  the  uni- 
form. They  went  out  singing,  "Hail!  Hail!  the  Gang's  all 
Here, "  and  all  the  rest  of  it. 

Secrecy  and  the  rumors  of  silent  midnight  departures  turned 
out  to  be  jokes.  The  camp  gates  were  wide  open.  The  302d 
formed  hours  ahead  of  time  outside  the  barracks  and  on  the  hot 
drill  fields,  with  equipment  enough  to  tell  any  one  that  they 
were  ready  for  France.  Not  more  than  a  hundred  friends  and 
families  happened  to  be  on  hand  to  kiss  their  soldiers  goodbye. 
They  watched  the  men  fall  in,  followed  them  down  to  the  rail- 
road sidings  and  waved  farewells,  and  the  trains  rolled  swiftly 
out  to  "that  somewhere. " 

It  was  only  tearful  in  spots. 

In  fact,  Devens  had  never  been  so  lively  as  in  those  depart- 
ing days.  Never  before  in  all  the  months  of  training  had  offi- 
cers worried  so  little  about  morale  and  the  spirit  of  their  troops. 
Night  and  day  barracks  were  ringing  with  songs  and  cheers 
and  ludicrous  farewell  revelries. 

Kaiser  Bill  in  effigy  was  burned  no  fewer  than  six  times. 
Barracks  were  labelled  with  such  signs  as  these: 


112  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

"To  Let:    Owner  Gone  Abroad  for  the  Summer." 

"  Fine  Steam-Heated  Apartment,  to  Sublease,    Five  Rooms. 
Shower  Baths.    Call  Berlin,  304TH  Infantry,  by  Telephone." 

"Will  Sell  Cheap.    Owner  Touring  Germany." 

Medical  officers  of  the  301st  Engineers,  Little  Rhody's  outfit, 
placarded  their  infirmary  with  letters  five  feet  high,  declaring 
that  they  had  been  "summoned  to  operate  on  the  Kaiser." 

Six  weeks  ahead  of  time  it  was  known  that  the  division  would 
pull  out.  But  not  until  two  or  three  hours  ahead  of  time  did 
officers  know  when  they  would  start.  And  the  enlisted  men 
were  on  the  anxious  seat  for  days,  not  finally  being  sure  that 
they  were  off  for  the  front  until  they  heard  sudden  orders: 
"Fall  in  outside — ready  to  start." 

The  Artillery  Brigade,  for  example,  went  to  bed  at  taps  at  10 
o'clock  on  the  night  of  July  15,  and  were  awakened  only  an 
hour  later  by  "First  call  for  France."  They  piled  out  into 
the  night  and  were  all  gone  out  of  camp  before  daybreak,  the 
whole  three  regiments  of  them. 

Division  Headquarters  went  on  the  first  section  of  the  train 
with  the  302d  Infantry.  Major-General  Harry  F.  Hodges 
had  left  the  day  before  with  his  aides  for  "a  short  trip  to  New 
York."     A  few  knew  just  what  that  meant. 

If  all  New  England  had  only  known  what  they  might  have 
seen  had  they  gone  to  Camp  Devens  for  the  Fourth  of  July! 
The  camp  was  open  to  all  who  wanted  to  come  visiting,  but 
only  a  few  hundreds  came.  Some  said  afterwards  that  they 
thought  the  whole  division  had  gone  July  i . 

At  3  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  July  4,  the  301st  Infantry, 
Boston's  Own  Regiment,  cheered  itself  away.  In  long  sections 
of  coaches  the  trains  rolled  at  short  intervals  down  through  the 
town  of  Ayer  in  broad  daylight.  This  regiment  placarded  the 
doors  of  their  Devens  homes  with  the  names  of  familiar  Boston 
Hotels.     One  sign  read : 

"Hotel  Touraine  Closed  by  Order  of  the  Licensing  Board." 


S      ,o 


Colonel  A.  L.  Parmerter 

J  6 til  Infantry 


Colonel  J.  B.  Kemper 
72d  Infantry 


Colonel  Osmun  Latrobe 

42d  Infantry 


Colonel  O.  H.  Dockery,  Jr. 

f^th  Infantry 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  113 

On  the  days  following  went  the  two  Infantry  Regiments  of 
the  I52d  Infantry  Brigade,  the  303d  Regiment  of  New  Yorkers 
and  the  304th  Regiment  of  Connecticut  men. 

There  were  last-minute  weddings  in  camp  and  stories  of 
farewell  ceremonies  in  the  304th  Infantry  that  would  have 
interested  the  state  of  Connecticut,  as  well  as  all  the  other  New 
England  States,  more  than  almost  anything  else  that  was  ap- 
pearing in  the  newspapers  at  the  time,  not  excepting  the  daily 
bulletins  of  the  great  German  drive  and  the  dogged  Allied 
fighting.  Any  who  wished  could  go  and  see  it,  but  nothing 
could  be  written  about  it.     Such  was  the  voluntary  censorship. 

After  the  infantry  went  the  Machine  Gun  Battalions  of 
Essex  and  Middlesex  Counties,  Massachusetts,  and  the 
Connecticut  men.  Major  James  Amory  Sullivan,  the  well 
known  artist,  was  the  last  of  these  battalion  commanders  to 
leave. 

In  turn  brigade  commanders  and  colonels  took  their  turn  at 
Headquarters  on  the  hill,  commanding  the  camp  for  the  few 
days  or  hours  when  each  happened  to  be  the  senior  officer  left. 
Then  went  the  "trains,"  the  301st  Sanitary,  Ammunition  and 
Supply  Trains. 

The  Rhode  Islanders  of  the  301st  Engineers,  who  had  ex- 
pected to  be  in  the  advance  guard,  didn't  move  until  near  the 
end,  starting  July  12  with  two  companies  of  the  301st  Field 
Artillery.  And  they  kept  almost  the  whole  camp  awake  all 
the  night  before  with  their  celebrations,  shirt-tail  parades  and 
larking. 

Maine  and  New  Hampshire  people  should  have  been  at  camp 
on  the  afternoon  of  July  15.  The  regiment  from  those  states— 
the  303d  Field  Artillery — ^which  would  yield  second  place  to 
none  as  a  highly  trained  outfit,  put  on  the  smartest  review  the 
camp  had  seen  up  to  that  time,  and  it  was  witnessed  only  by  a 
few  officers'  wives.  Even  they  didn't  realize  just  how  nearly 
a  farewell  review  it  was.  A  few  hours  later  they,  the  last  of 
the  76th  Division,  had  left  Camp  Devens. 


114  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

With  each  train  went  Y.  M.  C.  A.  or  K.  of  C.  secretaries,  sell- 
ing hundreds  of  dollars'  worth  of  stamps  and  cards  to  men  who 
were  writing  farewells  to  be  mailed  after  their  arrival  in  France. 
At  the  docks  the  departure  of  the  division  was  the  most  hurried, 
business-like  affair  of  all.  It  seemed  as  if  the  trains  ran  straight 
into  the  ships,  so  uninterrupted  was  the  detraining.  Red 
Cross  workers  were  there  with  coffee  and  sandwiches. 

One  Saturday,  during  the  departure.  Base  Hospital  No.  7 
was  sandwiched  in  between  units  of  the  division.  That  hos- 
pital contained  in  its  personnel  some  of  the  best  known  New 
England  medical  men,  but  it  was  not  a  part  of  the  76th 
Division,  though  part  of  its  training  took  place  at  Devens. 

But  though  New  England  didn't  get  the  thrill  of  seeing  its 
men  depart  for  the  other  side,  folks  did  feel  thrilled  when  it  was 
announced  that  the  boys  were  safely  over  there,  hard  at  work 
completing  their  training  which  was  started  in  the  central 
Massachusetts  countryside.  They  thrilled,  too,  when  they 
heard  of  the  reception  accorded  the  sturdy  New  Englanders  as 
they  marched  through  foreign  cities.  And  the  spirit  of  those 
Yankee  lads,  as  they  departed  for  the  fields  of  battle,  hurled 
back  a  denial  at  those  who  doubted  the  caliber  of  the  American 
Draft  Army. 

For  the  spirit  of  the  76th  Division  was  of  the  highest  order. 
It  was  the  spirit  that  has  been  handed  down  from  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  themselves — that  never-flagging,  unconquerable  spirit 
that  makes  Americans  win  any  fight  that  they  throw  them- 
selves into.  Had  it  been  possible  for  anything  to  break  that 
spirit,  it  would  have  been  broken  when  the  76th  Division  was 
made  a  Depot  Division  overseas  and  split  up  to  fill  the  depleted 
ranks  of  other  units.  But  even  that  heartbreaking  experience 
did  not  dampen  the  patriotic  spirit  of  New  England's  first 
National  Army  Division,  and  men  of  the  76th  Division  made 
good  in  every  task  they  were  called  upon  to  perform,  whether 
among  relatives,  friends  or  strangers.  That  will  stand  to  their 
everlasting  glory  and  credit. 


Chapter  XIV 
GENERAL  McCAIN  AND  THE  12TH   DIVISION 

Following  the  sailing  of  the  76th  Division,  drafted  men 
from  New  England  were  being  sent  to  Fort  Slocum,  New  York; 
or  many  of  them  were,  and  people  began  to  wonder  where  the 
next  division  to  train  at  Camp  Devens  was  going  to  come  from. 
For  it  had  been  announced  that  another  division  would  train 
there,  though  one  rumor  had  it  that  it  would  be  a  Regular  Army- 
Division.     The  basis  of  this  rumor  became  known  later. 

But  draftees  were  pouring  into  Camp  Devens  in  July,  re- 
gardless of  the  numbers  that  were  being  sent  to  Fort  Slocum. 
They  were  coming  in  by  the  thousands,  largely  from  Massa- 
chusetts and  Maine.  But  their  spirit  was  wonderful.  The 
departure  of  the  76th  Division  had  been  in  a  measure  responsi- 
ble for  that. 

On  the  day  that  the  safe  arrival  of  the  76th  Division  in 
France  was  released  for  publication — July  24 — the  announce- 
ment was  also  released  that  the  next  division  to  train  at  Devens 
would  be  known  as  the  12th.  But  the  12th  was  to  be  a  little 
different  from  the  76th  in  its  make-up.  The  War  Department 
decided  to  send  two  regiments  of  Regular  Army  troops  to  Camp 
Devens  and  to  build  the  new  division  around  these  regiments. 
The  Regular  outfits  selected  to  form  a  base  for  the  new  12th 
Division  were  the  36th  Infantry,  which  was  stationed  at  Fort 
Snelling,  Michigan,  and  the  42d  Infantry,  which  was  doing 
guard  duty  in  various  American  cities  and  ports. 

But  the  New  Englanders  didn't  seem  to  care  what  division 
they  got  into  now,  just  so  long  as  they  got  in.  By  the  thou- 
sands they  continued  to  come — eager,  anxious,  "jes'  r'arin'  t' 
go ! "  A  former  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  motorman,  Edward 
T.  Scanlon,  came  in  almost  panting  with  anxiety  and  eagerness, 

"5 


ii6  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

He  weighed  two  hundred  and  thirty  odd  pounds,  and  he  burst 
in  on  the  medical  officer  with : 

"  For  God's  sake,  don't  reject  me.  I've  got  a  brother  and  a 
cousin  almost  as  big  as  me  in  here  already!" 

He  was  examined  and  sent  along  to  a  company.  That  was 
the  spirit  of  these  men,  and  9,000  of  them  came  in  in  three  days. 
In  fact  the  material  for  the  12th  Division  was  mobilized  so 
rapidly  that  early  in  August  the  outfit,  untrained  though  it 
was,  was  almost  up  to  full  strength. 

And  while  there  were  men  in  the  12th  Division  from  almost 
every  state  in  the  Union,  not  excluding  Alaska  and  Hawaii, 
the  1 2th  was  a  New  England  division.  The  official  figures 
showed  that.  Sixty-eight  per  cent  of  the  division  was  made  up 
of  New  England  men.  To  be  exact  the  proportions  from 
various  states  were : 

Massachusetts 37  per  cent  or  10,360  men 

Maine 18  per  cent  or  5,040  men 

Indiana 6  per  cent  or  1,680  men 

Connecticut 6  per  cent  or  i  ,680  men 

New  Jersey 4  per  cent  or  1,120  men 

Vermont 4  per  cent  or  1,120  men 

New  Hampshire 3  per  cent  or  840  men 

Oklahoma 3  per  cent  or  840  men 

Missouri 2  per  cent  or  560  men 

New  York 2  per  cent  or  560  men 

Michigan 2  per  cent  or  560  men 

Pennsylvania 2  per  cent  or  560  men 

Ohio 2  per  cent  or  560  men 

Iowa : 2  per  cent  or  560  men 

Scattered 7  per  cent  or  i  ,960  men 

These  figures  are  approximate,  but  they  are  substantially 
correct,  and  they  show  that  nearly  20,000  men,  of  the  28,000  in 
the  1 2th  Division,  were  New  Englanders. 

The  organization  of  the  12th  Division  was  outlined  as 
follows : 

23d  Infantry  Brigade,  consisting  of  the  36th  Infantry,  the 
73d  Infantry  and  the  35th  Machine  Gun  Battalion. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  117 

24th  Infantry  Brigade,  consisting  of  the  42d  Infantry,  the 
74th  Infantry  and  the  36th  Machine  Gun  Battalion. 

The  34th  Machine  Gun  Battalion. 

I2th  Artillery  Brigade,  consisting  of  the  34th,  35th  and  36th 
Field  Artillery  Regiments  and  the  12th  Trench  Mortar  Battery. 

The  2i2th  Engineers,  the  212th  Field  Signal  Battalion,  the 
1 2th  Supply,  Sanitary  and  Headquarters  Trains;  the  245th, 
246th  and  247th  Field  Hospitals  and  the  245th,  246th  and 
247th  Ambulance  Companies. 

Soon  after  the  announcement  of  the  table  of  organization  of 
the  new  Division,  however,  it  was  given  out  that,  in  accordance 
with  the  War  Department's  newly  adopted  plan  to  centralize 
the  training  of  Divisional  Artillery,  Camp  McClellan,  Alabama, 
would  be  the  training  area  for  the  12th  Field  Artillery  Brigade 
and  the  12th  Ammunition  Train,  and  that  these  units  would 
be  organized  there.  The  men  making  up  these  units  were  not 
New  Englanders,  and  about  all  that  the  main  body  of  the  12th 
Division  ever  knew  about  its  artillery  was  that  the  brigade 
consisted  of  the  34th,  35th  and  36th  Field  Artillery  Regiments, 
and  that  Brigadier-General  G.  R.  Allen  was  in  command. 

This  arrangement,  which  was  not  very  popular,  left  only  the 
infantry  and  machine  gun  battalions,  the  engineers  and  other 
auxiliary  outfits  of  the  division  to  train  at  Devens,  and,  before 
the  preparation  of  the  division  was  completed,  it  was  said  by 
many  officers  that  the  plan  of  having  the  artillery  trained  away 
from  the  rest  of  the  division  was  a  poor  one. 

When  the  76th  Division  departed.  Colonel  George  L. 
Byroade  was  left  in  command  of  Camp  Devens.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Frank  B.  Edwards  acted  as  chief  of  staff.  Major  R.  A. 
Dunford  as  adjutant  and  Major  E.  L.  Weiscopf,  a  Boston 
lawyer,  as  judge  advocate.  This  staff  was  only  a  temporary 
one,  appointed  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  cantonment 
until  the  new  commanding  general  should  be  appointed  and 
announced. 

General  Order  No.  i,  12th  Division,  was  issued  on  July  30, 


ii8  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

and  the  above  staff,  with  several  additions  and  one  change,  was 
announced  temporarily.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Condon  C.  Mc- 
Cornack  was  announced  as  division  surgeon,  and  he  remained 
so  after  the  permanent  staff  was  organized .  Maj  or  Philip  Stoll 
was  announced  as  judge  advocate,  and  Major  Barratt  O'Hara 
as  assistant  judge  advocate.  Both  these  officers  were  also 
permanent.  Major  Weiscopf  was  made  temporary  division 
inspector. 

It  early  became  evident  that  the  new  division  was  to  be 
organized  in  a  different  manner  from  the  76th.  Two  Regular 
Army  regiments  were  assigned  to  Camp  Devens,  and  around 
these  Regulars  were  built  the  two  Infantry  Brigades  of  the 
new  division.  The  Regulars  were  the  36th  and  42d  Infantry 
Regiments. 

The  other  two  infantry  regiments  were  created  at  Devens, 
and  acting  under  orders  of  the  camp  commander.  Major 
George  C.  Donaldson  of  Salem,  organized  the  74th  Infantry, 
while  Major  Arthur  B.  Hitchcock  brought  the  73d  Infantry 
into  being.  Both  of  these  officers  were  drawn  from  the 
Depot  Brigade  to  carry  on  this  work,  and  the  manner  in 
which  they  did  it  brought  them  high  praise.  With  the  ar- 
rival at  camp,  late  in  July,  of  the  42d  Infantry,  the  74th  was 
brigaded  with  the  42d  to  form  the  24th  Infantry  Brigade, 
and  with  the  coming  on  August  13th  of  the  36th  Infantry,  the 
73d  combined  with  the  newcomers  to  form  the  23d  Infantry 
Brigade.  Men  were  drawn  liberally  from  the  Depot  Brigade 
to  form  these  two  new  regiments,  and  in  one  day  3,000  men 
were  transferred  into  the  division. 

In  building  the  two  new  Infantry  Brigades  a  new  plan  was 
tried.  From  the  two  Regular  Army  regiments  were  taken  a 
certain  number  of  non-commissioned  officers  and  men  as  a 
training  nucleus  around  which  the  recruits  transferred  from 
the  Depot  Brigade  would  be  fitted  in,  and  the  combinations 
whipped  rapidly  into  high-class  fighting  units.  From  each 
rifle  company  in  the  Regular  Army  outfits  were  transferred  to 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  119 

the  newly  formed  regiments  three  sergeants,  seven  corporals 
and  30  selected  privates  first-class  and  privates.  Among  the 
latter  were  experienced  cooks,  clerks,  buglers,  mechanics,  wag- 
oners, horseshoers  and  saddlers. 

Brigadier-General  John  N.  Hodges,  the  youngest  brigadier- 
general  in  the  United  States  Army,  the  man  who  commanded 
the  famous  regiment  of  American  engineers  that  went  to  the 
assistance  of  the  British,  armed  only  with  picks  and  shovels  and 
what  weapons  they  could  find  on  the  dead,  and  who  were  given 
the  credit  of  saving  the  day  for  the  particular  group  of  hard- 
pressed  British  Tommies  near  Cambrai,  was  recalled  from 
France  to  take  command  of  the  23d  Infantry  Brigade  of  this 
new  1 2th  Division.  And  how  tickled  the  division  was  over 
that! 

Brigadier-General  John  E.  Woodward,  a  Vermonter  by  birth 
and  just  returned  from  service  in  the  Orient,  took  command  of 
the  24th  Infantry  Brigade.  And  pretty  soon  his  fame  as  one 
of  the  most  genial  and  really  humorous  officers  in  the  whole 
division  had  spread  all  over  camp. 

Colonel  Almon  L.  Parmerter,  who  brought  the  36th  Infantry 
from  Fort  Snelling,  remained  in  command  of  that  regiment. 
The  73d  Infantry  was  commanded  by  Colonel  James  B. 
Kemper;  the  42d  Infantry,  by  Colonel  Osmun  Latrobe,  while 
Colonel  Oliver  H.  Dockery,  Jr.,  who  came  to  Camp  Devens 
and  became  temporary  chief  of  staff,  was  given  comrAand  of 
the  74th  Infantry. 

The  mixing  up  of  what  had  heretofore  been  known  as  Na- 
tional Army  men  and  Regulars  didn't  bother  either  group  very 
much,  for,  while  it  was  some  time  before  they  could  forget 
their  old  designations,  those  designations  ceased  to  exist  on 
August  7.  On  that  date  the  War  Department  issued  the 
following  order : 

I.  This  country  has  but  one  army — the  United  States  Army.  It  in- 
cludes all  the  land  forces  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  Those  forces, 
however  raised,  lose  their  identity  in  that  of  the  United  States  Army.   Dis- 


120  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

tinctive  appellations,  such  as  the  Regular  Army,  Reserve  Corps,  National 
Guard,  and  National  Army,  heretofore  employed  in  administration  and 
command,  will  be  discontinued,  and  the  single  term,  the  United  States 
Army,  will  be  exclusively  used. 

2.  Orders  having  reference  to  the  United  States  Army  as  divided  into 
separate  and  component  forces  of  distinct  origin,  or  assuming  or  contem- 
plating such  a  division,  are  to  that  extent  revoked. 

3.  The  insignia  now  prescribed  for  the  Regular  Army  shall  hereafter  be 
worn  by  the  United  States  Army. 

4.  All  effective  commissions  purporting  to  be,  and  described  therein  as, 
commissions  in  the  Regular  Army,  National  Guard,  National  Army  or  the 
Reserve  Corps  shall  hereafter  be  held  to  be,  and  regarded  as,  commissions  in 
the  United  States  Army — permanent,  provisional  or  temporary,  as  fixed  by 
the  conditions  of  their  issue;  and  all  such  commissions  are  hereby  amended 
accordingly.  Hereafter  during  the  period  of  the  existing  emergency  all 
commissions  of  officers  shall  be  in  the  United  States  Army  and  in  staff  corps, 
departments  and  arms  of  the  service  thereof,  and  shall,  as  the  law  may  pro- 
vide be  permanent,  for  a  term,  or  for  the  period  of  the  emergency.  And 
hereafter  during  the  period  of  the  existing  emergency  provisional  and  tem- 
porary appointments  in  the  grade  of  second  lieutenant  and  temporary  pro- 
motions in  the  Regular  Army  and  appointments  in  the  Reserve  Corps  will 
be  discontinued. 

5.  While  the  number  of  commissions  in  each  grade  and  in  each  staff  corps, 
department  and  arm  of  the  service,  shall  be  kept  within  the  limits  fixed  by 
law,  officers  shall  be  assigned  without  reference  to  the  term  of  their  commis- 
sions solely  in  the  interest  of  the  service;  and  officers  and  enlisted  men  will 
be  transferred  from  one  organization  to  another  as  the  interests  of  the 
service  may  require. 

6.  Except  as  otherwise  provided  by  law,  promotion  in  the  United  States 
Army  shall  be  by  selection.  Permanent  promotions  in  the  Regular  Army 
will  continue  to  be  made  as  prescribed  by  law. 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War : 

Peyton  C.  March, 
General,  Chief  of  Staff. 
Official: 
H.  P.  McCain, 

The  Adjutant  General. 

That  was  all  right.  Nobody  cared  much  what  designation 
he  fought  under,  as  long  as  it  had  "  U.  S. "  in  it. 

On  August  17  the  big  news  came.  New  England  expected  a 
big  man  to  be  appointed  to  command  the  new  division,  but 


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I.T.-CoL.  R.  H.  RoLFE  Lt.-Col.  p.  H.  Stoll  Lt.-Col.  I.  M.  Unger 


AIaj.  G  C.  Donaldson  Maj.  A.  B.  Hitchcock  Maj.  J.  M.  Day 


Photo  by  Bachrach,  Boston 

Capt.  C.  F.  Reid 


Capt.  E.  J.  Hall  Capt.  Francis  Harrigan 


Major-General  Henry  P.  McCain 
Commander  of  the  Plymouth  (12th)  Division 


Maj.  W.  J.  FiTZMAURiCE  Lt.-Col.  Ira  a.  Smith  Maj.  Chas.  C.  Quigley 


. 

Lt.-Col.  G.  T.  Everett  Maj.  Edwards 


Capt.  R.  G.  Sherman 


Capt.  Cockriel,  M.  p.  Capt.  C.  B.  MacNeill 


Capt.  Tait 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  121 

even  the  most  optimistic  weren't  prepared  for  what  happened. 
For,  on  August  17,  came  a  dispatch  from  Washington  saying 
that  Major-General  Henry  P.  McCain,  who  had  just  completed 
an  appointment  as  The  Adjutant  General  of  the  army,  the  man 
who,  with  Major-General  Enoch  H.  Crowder,  was  responsible 
for  much  of  the  wonderful  record  America  had  made  in  the 
World  War,  in  throwing  what  forces  she  had  into  the  breach 
quickly,  was  to  organize  and  train  the  12th  Division, 

And  Camp  Devens  just  cut  loose  and  nearly  went  wild  with 
joy! 

For  during  the  years  he  had  spent  in  the  Adjutant-General's 
Department  at  Washington  the  name  "McCain"  had  become 
known  to  almost  everybody  in  the  country.  There  was  con- 
siderable protest  made — or  there  would  have  been  had  General 
McCain  permitted  it — when  it  became  known  that  the  general 
was  going  to  forsake  the  post  of  The  Adjutant  General.  Prac- 
tically the  whole  Government  hailed  McCain  as  the  "best 
adjutant-general  the  United  States  ever  had, "  and  they  didn't 
want  to  lose  him. 

Day  and  night  this  man  had  been  at  his  desk  in  the  War  De- 
partment, since  the  United  States  entered  the  war.  He  was 
greedy  for  work.  He  couldn't  be  tired  out.  His  administra- 
tion of  the  Adjutant-General's  Department  was  the  most  satis- 
factory and  efficient  the  Nation  ever  had.  This  was  admitted 
by  everybody:  congressmen,  senators,  military  authorities — 
everybody.  He  was  one  of  the  best  loved  men  in  Washington 
and  in  the  army.  And  he  was  to  come  to  Camp  Devens  and 
train  a  New  England  division!  Some  day  the  story  of  why 
Henry  P.  McCain  left  Washington  and  came  to  New  England 
may  be  told. 

Major-General  McCain  was  born  in  Carroll  County,  Missis- 
sippi, and,  as  soon  as  his  age  permitted,  entered  the  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point,  graduating  from  that  school  in  1885. 
From  then  on  he  soldiered  in  the  United  States  and  in  the 
Philippines  until  he  was  transferred  to  the  Adjutant-General's 


122  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Department.  And  there  they  kept  him  for  eighteen  years 
until,  when  the  United  States  entered  the  World  War,  he  was 
made  a  major-general. 

General  McCain  landed  in  Boston  on  August  20  and  imme- 
diately stepped  into  an  automobile  and  drove  to  Camp  Devens. 
That  he  was  happy  to  be  given  a  division  to  organize  and  train, 
with  the  possibility  of  leading  men  into  battle,  is  undoubted. 
He  looked  forward  to  it  with  pleasure,  and  he  proposed  to 
build  the  best  division  in  the  army.  His  feelings,  then,  can  be 
imagined  when,  as  he  arrived  at  the  main  gate  of  Camp  Devens, 
he  saw  a  group  of  horsemen  waiting  to  receive  him,  and  a 
military  band  crashed  forth  a  welcome  to  the  new  commanding 
general.  The  horsemen — it  was  the  Headquarters  Troop  of 
the  new  12th  Division — fell  in  around  his  car,  and  with  the 
band  playing.  General  McCain  was  triumphantly  welcomed  to 
New  England  and  to  Camp  Devens.  The  general  brought 
with  him  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  B.  Shuman,  who  was  to  be 
division  adjutant,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  E.  S.  Adams,  who 
was  named  as  assistant  chief  of  staff.  Colonel  Oliver  H. 
Dockery,  Jr.,  who  was  acting  chief  of  staff  was  relieved,  and 
Colonel  Abraham  G.  Lott,  who  had  been  one  of  General 
McCain's  assistants  in  Washington,  was  made  chief  of  staff  of 
the  1 2th  Division  on  August  22. 

No  general  officer  ever  received  a  warmer  welcome  to  a  new 
command  than  did  Major-General  McCain  when  he  came  to 
New  England.  He  didn't  say  much.  He  seldom  does.  But 
he  felt  and  thought  a  lot,  and  he  just  thanked  everybody 
briefly  but  sincerely,  and  remarked  in  his  quiet,  forceful  way 
that  he  was  "with  the  12th  Division  until  torn  away  from  it." 
General  McCain  brought  no  aides-de-camp  with  him,  but  as 
soon  as  he  arrived  at  Devens,  Lieutenant  Augustus  F.  Doty  of 
Boston  and  Waltham  (better  known  as  "Gus"  Doty,  famous 
Harvard  athlete)  was  made  aide-de-camp  to  the  new  command- 
ing general. 

Other  officers  to  arrive  for  the  staff  of  the  new  division  and 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  123 

to  take  command  of  organizations  were:  On  August  19, 
Colonel  John  D.  Long  was  assigned  to  command  the  Train 
Headquarters  and  Military  Police.  On  August  24,  Major 
C.  F.  Holly  was  assigned  to  command  the  34th  Machine  Gun 
Battalion;  Major  G.  E.  Wilson  to  command  the  36th  Machine 
Gun  Battalion,  and  Major  O.  M.  Dickerson  to  command  the 
35th  Machine  Gun  Battalion.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Robert  H. 
Rolfe  was  officially  announced  as  division  quartermaster  on 
September  7,  and  on  September  13,  Major  John  L.  Schock 
became  division  dental  surgeon.  On  September  23  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Fred  G.  Miller  became  division  signal  officer.  Colonel 
Miller  was  relieved  of  this  post  on  December  27  and  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Walter  E.  Pridgeon  succeeded  him. 

Captain  Frank  Ward  became  acting  assistant  chief  of  staff 
(G-2),  on  October  14,  while  four  days  later,  October  18, 
Colonel  Max  C.  Tyler  arrived  at  camp  to  take  command  of  the 
2i2th  Engineers.  On  October  26,  Lieutenant-Colonel  George 
T.  Everett  became  assistant  chief  of  staff  (G-i),  and,  on 
November  13,  Major  William  J.  Fitzmaurice  was  appointed 
assistant  chief  of  staff  (G-3) . 

From  the  very  moment  General  McCain  arrived  in  camp  the 
entire  command  knew  that  he  meant  business.  He  was  a 
driver,  a  producer  of  results;  but  he  drove  his  men  humanely 
and  they  loved  him  for  it.  It  soon  became  known  to  every 
officer  and  man  in  the  12th  Division  that  the  commanding  gen- 
eral asked  only  that  every  last  man  work  as  hard  and  faithfully 
as  the  general  did  himself.  Nothing  more  than  this  was  re- 
quired of  anybody,  as  far  as  work  was  concerned.  So,  on  the 
very  day  General  McCain  arrived  at  Devens,  schools  were 
started  in  the  new  division.  The  first  two  were  the  bayonet 
and  grenade  schools. 

The  first  week  of  General  McCain's  stay  was  spent  in  going 
over  the  camp.  He  inspected  every  nook  and  corner  of  it.  It 
would  almost  be  safe  to  say  that  there  is  not  a  building  nor  a 
room  in  Camp  Devens  that  he  has  not  been  in  himself.     And 


124  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

he  wanted  to  know  his  men.  He  was  out  among  them  every 
day  and  nearly  all  day.  Before  he  had  been  there  a  month  it  is 
absolutely  certain  that  he  could  have  taken  the  two  stars  off 
his  shoulders  and  gone  out  among  his  troops  and  they  would 
all  have  known  who  he  was.  He  is  a  great  believer  in  personal 
contact,  and  his  belief  bore  rich  fruit  in  the  12th  Division. 

The  foreign  attaches  were  still  at  Camp  Devens  and  they 
started  right  in  with  the  instruction  of  the  new  division,  just  as 
they  had  with  the  76th.  But,  on  August  30,  some  help  came 
for  them,  for  the  12th,  it  was  generally  known,  was  not  to  re- 
main in  training  so  long  as  the  76th ;  not  anywhere  near  so  long. 
So,  on  August  30,  there  arrived  at  camp  63  more  overseas 
instructors,  fresh  from  the  battlefields  of  France.  They  were 
all  Americans,  noncommissioned  officers  who  had  "been  through 
the  mill,"  and  were  highly  trained  specialists.  The  effect  of 
their  arrival  was  electrical,  and  from  September  i  the  12th  Di- 
vision buckled  down  to  the  hardest  and  stiffest  kind  of  intensive 
training  ever  known  in  this  part  of  the  country.  McCain  had 
instilled  a  spirit  into  the  division;  the  men  had  the  Yankee 
fighting  spirit  in  their  blood  and  a  high  sense  of  patriotic  duty ; 
they  were  as  husky  a  bunch  of  fighting  material  as  could  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  world,  and  there  was  born  in  them  a 
determination  to  "deliver  the  goods"  that  could  not  and  would 
not  and  did  not  stop ;  nor  could  it  be  stopped  by  anything. 

Fundamentally,  the  training  of  the  12th  Division  was  about 
the  same  as  that  of  the  76th.  In  detail,  however,  there  were 
many  differences.  For  one  thing — and  too  much  emphasis 
cannot  be  laid  on  this — the  12th  Division  experienced  the  most 
intensive  training  of  any  combat  unit  trained  in  New  England. 

The  men  transferred  into  the  new  division  from  the  Depot 
Brigade  were  all  raw  recruits,  with  no  noncommissioned  officers 
to  aid  in  drilling  them.  The  comparatively  few  officers  who 
composed  the  commissioned  personnel  of  the  two  new  regiments 
worked  from  dawn  until  dark  in  the  sweltering  heat.  It 
seemed  that  they  were  always  out  on  the  drill  grounds  teaching 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  125 

these  willing  recruits  the  art  of  being  a  soldier,  and  their  efforts 
bore  wonderful  fruit.  With  the  coming  of  the  two  regiments 
of  Regulars,  however,  and  the  consequent  augmentation  of  the 
ranks  of  the  73d  and  74th  by  officers  and  men  already  thor- 
oughly trained,  and  in  many  instances  noncommissioned  offi- 
cers who  had  already  had  their  baptism  of  fire  overseas,  this 
intensive  training  progressed  even  more  rapidly  than  before. 
Day  by  day  the  12th  Division  improved,  until  very  soon  it  was 
evident  to  all  that  the  outfit  would  not  only  be  trained  in  record 
time,  but  would  develop  into  one  of  the  prize  combat  divisions 
in  the  entire  American  Army. 

Some  idea  of  the  rapidity  with  which  the  training  got  under 
way  may  be  gained  from  a  paragraph  taken  from  the  official 
record  of  the  training  of  the  division.     It  reads: 

The  Infantry  School  of  Arms  was  inaugurated  August  22,  19 18,  From 
August  22  to  October  28,  1918,  twenty-seven  different  schools  were  held, 
graduating  563  officers  and  1,327  enlisted  men,  making  the  total  number 
graduating  from  the  schools,  1,890.  In  addition  to  the  schools,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Infantry  School  of  Arms,  an  Intelligence  School  of  Applica- 
tion was  conducted  under  the  supervision  of  the  division  intelligence  officer 
and  proved  highly  successful. 

In  addition  to  these  schools  was  the  Senior  and  Staff  Officers* 
School  of  Instruction,  which  was  similar  to  the  school  conducted 
for  the  officers  of  the  76th,  only  instead  of  the  course  lasting  for 
three  weeks,  as  in  the  case  of  the  76th  Division,  the  course  was 
doubled  for  the  12th  Division  officers.  There  was  also  another 
great  difference  between  the  two  schools.  The  76th  Division 
had  its  own  artillery  to  work  with.  The  I2th  Division  had 
none.  They  did  have  two  airplanes,  however,  which  came 
from  Mineola,  Long  Island,  New  York,  before  the  course  was 
completed  and  with  the  help  of  these  planes  considerable  prob- 
lem work  was  done.  The  lectures  and  field  work  of  various 
kinds  gave  the  officers  attending  the  school  valuable  knowledge 
of  the  practical  conduct  of  modern  warfare. 

The  high  lights  in  this  marvelous  progress  could  not  better 


126  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

be  shown  than  by  again  quoting  from  the  official  record  of  the 
training  of  the  I2th  Division — a  brief  but  concise  memorandum 
compiled  at  Division  Headquarters  by  the  officers  who  directed 
and  watched  the  training.  This  report  only  summarizes,  but 
in  the  following  few  paragraphs  a  story  of  wonderful  military 
achievement  is  tersely  told: 

The  first  month's  training  of  the  division  personnel  was  devoted  to  basic 
training  in  the  essential  principles  as  prescribed  by  the  War  Department, 
with  careful  attention  being  paid  to  eliminating  non-essentials  and  profiting 
by  the  mistakes  made  in  the  training  of  old  divisions. 

The  second  month  saw  this  basic  training  turn  out  officers  and  men 
whose  percentage  of  efficiency  was  very  high,  and  platoon,  company,  and 
battalion  cohesion  was  given  much  attention.  Much  time  was  devoted  to 
training  in  gas  defense  and  the  use  of  the  rifle  and  bayonet.  Scores  on  the 
rifle  range  indicated  that  the  weapon  of  the  infantry  would  play  an  impor- 
tant part  when  the  12  th  Division  finally  got  into  action.  The  discipline  and 
military  bearing  of  the  soldiers  was  of  the  highest  order,  and  surpassed  even 
the  expectancy  of  the  division  staff  officers. 

The  machine  gun  units,  signal  troops,  and  engineers,  were  progressing  in 
their  combat  training  with  the  same  degree  of  efficiency  and  speed.  Every 
week  Division  Headquarters  prescribed  the  number  of  hours  to  be  devoted 
to  each  subject  by  the  different  units  in  their  training,  and  schedules  em- 
bracing these  hours  were  compiled  by  the  commanding  officers  and  submit- 
ted for  the  approval  of  Division  Headquarters.  This  system  brought  uni- 
form methods  and  uniform  results  in  the  training  so  that  all  organizations 
progressed  on  an  even  basis.  The  instructors  being  graduated  from  the 
Infantry  School  of  Arms  returned  to  their  organizations  and  imparted  the 
knowledge  they  had  gained. 

In  the  infantry  organizations  the  following  method  of  instruction  was 
effected : 

Each  of  the  four  platoons  in  the  rifle  companies  were  divided  into  four 
sections,  keeping  squad  formations  intact.  Each  platoon  commander  was 
made  a  specialist  in  either  bayonet  fighting,  hand  and  rifle  grenades,  auto- 
matic rifle  or  drills,  administration,  gas,  etc. 

Each  day  at  drill  all  of  the  first  sections  reported  for  bayonet  drill,  the 
second  sections  for  hand  and  rifle  grenades,  etc.,  and  rotated  thusly  under 
the  respective  specialists,  thereby  saving  time  in  training  in  the  division 
schools.  This  was  very  effective  in  assuring  uniformity  in  company  train- 
ing as  each  member  was  trained  in  the  specialties  by  the  same  officer. 

Officers'  schools  within  the  different  organizations  under  the  direct  super- 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  127 

vision  of  the  regimental  and  separate  organization  commanders  were  con- 
ducted. Noncommissioned  officers'  schools  within  each  regiment  and 
separate  organization  were  also  established. 

Weekly  record  of  progress  was  kept  on  cards  furnished  by  the  Infantry 
School  of  Arms  for  this  purpose,  one  card  being  made  out  by  the  corporal  of 
his  squad  each  week  and  submitted  to  the  platoon  commander;  another 
card  was  made  out  each  week  by  the  platoon  commander  and  submitted  to 
the  company  commander.  This  system  proved  valuable  in  helping  the 
company  commander  and  higher  commanders  to  determine  the  condition  of 
the  company  organizations. 

Specialists  in  headquarters  and  supply  companies,  infantry  and  head- 
quarters detachments  were  given  special  training,  specially  qualified  officers 
having  been  assigned  to  these. 

The  third  month  of  training  brought  out  excellent  results  in  maneuvers, 
cohesion  and  liaison  in  all  units.  Close  order  drills  and  deployments  reached 
a  high  percentage  of  efficiency.  The  training  of  all  specialists  and  the  tac- 
tical use  of  such  specialties  gave  every  indication  that  the  division  would 
soon  be  rated  as  ready.  The  combined  training  of  the  division  was  now 
under  way  and  this  was  demonstrated  by  the  success  of  the  various  maneu- 
vers held. 

The  first  field  order  of  the  I2th  Division  was  issued  for  a  division  billeting 
problem  at  Shaker  Village  on  November  I. 

Certainly  New  England  had  never  seen  anything  to  equal 
this  in  the  way  of  training  men  for  war,  and  it  is  doubtful  if 
many  people,  except  those  who  were  taking  part  in  this  heart- 
breaking grind,  appreciated  just  what  it  all  meant. 

In  one  respect  the  12th  Division  had  much  less  to  discourage 
its  personnel  than  the  76th  Division.  They  knew  they  were 
going  to  keep  the  men  who  had  been  poured  into  the  ranks  of 
the  various  regiments,  with  the  exception  of  the  few  hundreds 
that  were  transferred  to  Officers'  Training  Schools.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  they  had  obstacles  to  overcome  that  the  76th 
did  not  have.  One  of  these — and  by  far  the  most  distressing 
one — was  an  epidemic  of  Spanish  influenza  that  caused  nearly 
half  the  entire  division  to  be  laid  up  in  the  hospital  at  one  time. 


Chapter  XV 
IN  THE  GRIP  OF  THE  "FLU" 

As  soon  as  General  McCain  got  his  schools  running  properly 
and  the  men  were  "throwing  their  weight  into  the  collar, "  so  to 
speak,  a  review  of  the  .division  was  ordered.  ■  The  general  had 
seen  all  there  was  to  see  of  the  camp  and  he  had  seen  practically 
every  man  in  it  at  various  times.  Now  he  wanted  to  see  them 
all  together.  So  the  first  review  of  the  division  was  held  on 
September  14,  less  than  a  month  after  it  had  been  organized. 

Hundreds  of  people  came  to  Camp  Devens  to  see  that  review. 
It  was  not  yet  believed  that  anything  resembling  soldiers  could 
be  made  in  so  short  a  time,  and  the  public  had  a  very  earnest 
desire  to  be  shown.  Well,  they  were  shown,  and  they  went 
away  wondering,  for,  as  far  as  most  lay  people  could  see,  this 
first  review  of  the  12th  Division  didn't  differ  so  very  much 
from  the  last  review  of  the  76th,  except  that  there  were  more 
men  in  the  latter,  inasmuch  as  the  12th  Artillery  Brigade 
was  training  thousands  of  miles  away  from  the  Infantry 
Brigades.  The  men  marched  and  generally  conducted  them- 
selves like  veterans,  thereby  satisfying  their  officers  and  the 
commanding  general,  though  the  latter,  when  asked  what  he 
thought  of  the  showing  of  his  new  command,  replied  that  it  was 
fine,  but  "wait  until  the  next  one  and  see  the  difference. " 

It  was  just  about  this  time  that  the  Spanish  influenza  was 
fastening  its  grip  on  the  camp.  The  epidemic  started  so  grad- 
ually that  few  knew  that  it  was  upon  us  until  it  was  raging. 
On  the  day  of  the  first  review  it  was  announced  that  there  were 
2,000  cases  of  the  disease  in  camp,  but  as  yet  no  deaths  were 
reported.  The  day  following,  however,  two  deaths  were  an- 
nounced. The  next  day  there  were  3,000  cases  of  it  and  it  was 
announced  that  four  men  had  died  in  the  past  twenty-four 

128 


Practically  Every  Great  German  Military  Leader  Was  Shot  at  Some 
Time  or  Other  on  The  Snipers'  Range 


Laying  Down  a  Machine  Gun  Barrage 


Colonel  A.  G.  Lott 
Chief  of  Staff 


Colonel  G.  L.  Byroade 

Executive  Officer 


Colonel  Max  C.  Tyler 

212th  Engineers 


Lieutenant-Colonel  McCornack 
Division- Surgeon 


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FORGING  THE  SWORD  129 

hours.  Twelve  additional  wards  at  the  Base  Hospital  had  to 
be  taken  over  to  accommodate  the  sick  men,  and  it  was 
thought  that  this  was  pretty  bad! 

On  September  19,  the  town  of  Ayer  was  quarantined  against 
the  soldiers.  This  was  not  so  much  to  protect  the  soldiers  as 
to  protect  the  civilians  living  near  the  camp,  for  civilian  New 
England  was  having  a  hard  time  with  the  influenza,  whereas 
the  men  in  camp  had  the  best  possible  medical  attention.  In 
the  cities  and  towns  throughout  New  England  the  doctors  were 
so  busy  that  the  services  of  a  physician  were  hard  to  get,  for  the 
medical  men  were  working  day  and  night,  with  far  more  cases 
on  their  hands  than  they  could  find  time  to  attend.  And 
nurses  were  at  a  premium. 

But  still  the  number  of  cases  in  camp  continued  to  grow. 
From  3,000  to  5,000  to  7,000,  clear  up  until  at  one  time  there 
were  more  than  10,000  men  being  treated.  And  so  the  daily 
death  report  continued  to  grow  larger  and  larger,  from  three, 
to  five  to  twelve  to  fifteen  to  twenty  and  then  to  twenty- 
eight  daily.  Then  New  England  began  to  be  really  alarmed 
at  the  situation  at  the  cantonment.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  epidemic  had  about  spent  itself  before  the  death  list  began 
to  swell  to  such  alarming  proportions.  At  the  time  when  the 
death  list  was  highest  there  were  fewer  cases  of  influenza  in 
the  hospital  than  when  the  dally  death  report  showed  less 
than  a  dozen  names.  The  reason  for  this  was  that  thousands 
of  men  were  only  in  the  hospital  a  few  days,  while  most  of 
those  who  succumbed  to  the  disease  were  ill  for  several  days 
before  they  reached  the  crisis. 

But  despite  the  frightful  handicap  imposed  by  the  epidemic, 
the  training  of  the  division  went  on  just  the  same.  It  had  to. 
And  the  medical  officers  had  decided  that  to  continue  the  train- 
ing was  the  best  possible  thing  for  the  men.  It  kept  them  out 
In  the  open  air — one  of  the  surest  preventives — and  also  dis- 
tracted their  attention  from  what  was  going  on  around  them. 
This  policy  unquestionably  saved  many  lives. 

10 


130  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

And,  among  other  things,  the  influenza  epidemic  showed  the 
men  of  the  12th  Division  the  true  caliber  of  their  commanding 
general .  For  he  personally  directed  the  fight  against  the  plague , 
assisted  and  advised,  of  course,  by  Lieutnenat-Colonel  Condon 
C.  McCornack,  his  division  surgeon,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Channing  Frothingham  of  Boston,  commander  of  the  Base 
Hospital. 

The  general  had  these  two  officers  worried.  They  were 
worried  about  the  general  himself,  for  he  insisted  on  spending 
the  greater  part  of  the  daylight  hours  at  the  hospital,  going 
around  among  the  men,  talking  to  them  and  cheering  them  up. 
He  scorned  to  wear  a  mask  to  protect  himself.  He  was  build- 
ing spirit  among  the  sick,  spirit  with  which  to  fight  this  plague 
that  seemed  to  sap  the  vitality  from  a  man  as  no  other  disease 
did.  And  so,  calmly,  cheerfully  and  kindly,  he  went  his  way 
through  the  hospital  wards,  among  the  dead  and  the  dying, 
talking  to  these  lads,  asking  them  all  the  little  personal,  inti- 
mate questions  one  of  their  own  would  ask  and  seeing  to  it  that 
they  got  everything  that  could  possibly  be  given  them.  Then, 
as  night  drew  on,  he  went  back  to  his  ofhce  on  Headquarters 
Hill,  where  all  through  the  day  the  work  had  been  piling  up, 
and  there  he  worked  far  into  the  night,  attending  to  the  vast 
amount  of  detail  attached  to  getting  his  division  into  shape  to 
go  to  France.  He  didn't  have  to  spend  this  time  in  the  hos- 
pital. There  was  no  rule  nor  regulation  that  called  upon  him 
to  do  it.  But  he  wanted  to  save  every  life  that  could  possibly 
be  saved,  and  he  wanted  to  be  sure  that  everything  that  could 
be  done  was  being  done,  so  he  went  himself  to  see  about  it. 
And  he  knew,  too,  that  most  of  these  men  were  going  to  get 
well,  that  when  they  recovered  they  would  remember  that 
their  general  stuck  by  them  when  they  were  in  a  tight  place  and 
that  they  would  be  eager  to  do  the  same  by  him.  This  is  only 
one  of  the  things  that  built  for  Major-General  McCain  the 
loyalty  of  every  man  under  his  command. 

As  September  drew  to  a  close  the  daily  death  toll  grew.     On 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  131 

September  23  there  were  63  deaths,  on  September  24  there 
were  66,  on  the  25th  there  were  77,  on  the  26th  there  were  60, 
on  the  27th  there  were  81,  the  highest  daily  death  toll  during 
the  epidemic.  From  that  time  on  the  daily  death  list  de- 
creased, 56,  45,  29,  30,  14,  17,  14,  eight,  and  so  on  until  the 
pre-epidemic  average  was  reached,  which  was  only  one  or 
two  a  week. 

In  all  there  were  about  800  nurses,  officers  and  men  who 
succumbed  to  the  epidemic,  a  low  figure  compared  to  the 
harvest  of  the  grim  reaper  in  other  camps  and  in  many  civilian 
communities. 

After  days  and  nights  of  the  bitterest  kind  of  fighting,  Camp 
Devens  had  won  its  first  victory.  The  Spanish  influenza  was 
completely  stamped  out  and  Camp  Devens  was  one  of  the 
cleanest  and  healthiest  spots  in  New  England. 

It  was  a  victory  won  with  the  sacrifices  that  attach  to  all 
real  victories.  From  the  time  the  epidemic  broke  out  approxi- 
mately 14,000  men  were  in  hospital  with  influenza  and  pneu- 
monia at  Camp  Devens.  One  out  of  every  18  of  these  cases 
died. 

There  were  undoubtedly  hundreds  of  cases  of  great  sacrifice 
and  devotion  passed  by  unnoticed,  except  by  a  very  few.  But 
there  are  other  cases  of  both  women  and  men  who  did  their 
duty  and  a  lot  besides  that  came  to  the  attention  of  the  authori- 
ties, and  many  of  these  went  on  record. 

The  whole  battle  to  rid  the  camp  of  Spanish  influenza  is  a 
story  of  never-ending  toil,  of  sleepless  days  and  nights,  of  heroic 
devotion  to  duty,  of  weary,  heavy-lidded,  dogged  resistance 
against  an  unseen  and  practically  unknown  foe;  of  calm  and 
patient  women,  working  on  sheer  nerve,  of  brave  but  in- 
experienced men,  setting  their  hand  to  a  task  and  struggling 
to  absorb  a  knowledge  of  their  work  as  they  felt  their  way 
along,  and  of  overworked  physicians,  fighting,  fighting,  fight- 
ing and  never  ceasing  to  fight  until  every  single  man  had 
been  attended. 


132  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

It  was  a  struggle,  in  which  the  members  of  the  Army  Medical 
Corps  lived  up  to  the  best  and  highest  traditions  of  the 
country. 

The  base  hospital  contained  i,8oo  beds  when  the  epidemic 
descended  upon  it.  At  the  height  of  the  epidemic  there  were 
close  to  10,000  patients  and  through  it  all  the  base  hospital 
kept  1,000  beds  ahead  of  the  need. 

When  the  epidemic  started  there  were  some  200  nurses,  in- 
cluding the  members  of  the  Nurses'  Training  School,  at  the 
Base  Hospital.  Almost  over  night  there  were  more  patients  in 
the  hospital  than  it  would  seem  humanly  possible  for  200 
nurses  to  take  care  of.  They  kept  going,  however,  and  every 
man  was  cared  for  before  a  single  nurse  rested. 

There  were  enough  doctors  to  care  for  any  reasonable  num- 
ber of  patients  that  might  be  expected  to  be  in  the  hospital  at 
one  time.  But  when  the  deluge  came  the  doctors  showed 
themselves  to  be  of  the  same  stuff  as  did  the  nurses. 

As  the  epidemic  developed  there  was  no  such  thing  as  enough 
nurses  and  doctors.  The  hospital  used  every  last  one  that 
could  be  procured,  and  still  more  were  needed.  But  those  who 
were  on  duty  did  the  work  of  two  and  three,  and  somehow 
every  patient  was  cared  for. 

As  quickly  as  it  could  be  secured,  assistance  was  brought  in 
from  the  outside.  This  help  consisted  of  both  military  and 
civil.  Army  doctors  and  nurses  were  rushed  from  other  camps 
and  army  posts.  Offers  of  help  from  civilian  organizations  all 
over  New  England  began  to  come  in,  and  many  of  them  were 
accepted.  Every  one  who  could  help  and  who  wanted  to,  came 
pretty  near  having  a  chance  to  make  good.  And  most  of 
them  did. 

Five  girls  who  were  serving  their  country  at  the  Camp 
Devens  Base  Hospital  made  the  supreme  sacrifice;  they  con- 
tracted the  disease  they  were  fighting  and  died.  They  died  the 
death  of  a  soldier.  They  stuck  to  their  posts  until  the  end, 
without  a  thought  of  themselves  and  with  only  their  duty  in 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  133 

mind.  When  the  decline  in  the  epidemic  came  there  were  400 
nurses  at  the  hospital. 

Two  doctors  gave  their  lives,  also.  One  of  them,  Captain 
Charles  A.  Sturtevant  of  Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  lost  his 
life  because  he  stuck  to  his  post  after  he  was  ill  himself.  That 
his  work  for  his  country  was  appreciated  by  his  Government 
was  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  his  promotion  to  the  rank  of 
major  arrived  at  Camp  Devens  the  day  after  he  died.  Lieuten- 
ant Thomas  R.  Ferguson  of  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  was  the 
other  doctor  to  succumb  to  the  influenza. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  individual  credit  everywhere 
it  is  due,  because,  from  the  highest  officers  right  down  to  the 
lowliest  private,  every  last  man  and  woman  in  camp  did  his  and 
her  duty.  The  men  of  the  Sanitary  Train  were  called  upon  to 
help,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  McCornack,  the  division  surgeon, 
paid  them  high  tribute  for  the  manner  in  which  they  "went 
through."  Colonel  McCornack  had  been  at  that  time  about 
eleven  years  in  the  service,  and  during  that  time  he  had  fought 
just  about  every  kind  of  disease  there  is  to  fight,  including  an 
epidemic  of  black  smallpox  in  China.  And  he  knows  service 
when  he  sees  it.  After  the  influenza  epidemic  had  been  con- 
quered at  Camp  Devens,  he  told  what  he  thought  of  these  men: 

We  had  to  take  men  from  the  Sanitary  Train  and  send  them  to  the  Base 
Hospital  for  duty.  Most  of  these  men  were  new  to  the  service  and  they 
didn't  know  anything  about  hospital  work. 

They  were  told  what  they  were  up  against.  They  knew  that  many  of 
them  were  going  to  contract  the  disease  and  that  some  of  them  would  die. 
But  when  they  knew  that  men  were  dying  at  the  hospital  because  their  help 
was  needed,  and  when  the  order  came  to  go  up  there  for  duty,  not  a  man  of 
them  so  much  as  looked  back. 

And  some  did  contract  the  disease  and  some  of  them  did  die,  but  they 
knew  that  it  was  part  of  the  army  game  and  they  did  it  willingly  and  gladly, 
like  true  soldiers.  They  are  just  as  truly  heroes  as  though  their  lives  had 
been  given  on  the  battlefields  of  France. 

Ordinarily  there  isn't  any  special  credit  due  a  man  for  doing  his  duty,  but 
certainly  a  word  of  commendation  and  praise  is  due  these  boys  who  were 
green  at  the  game,  but  who  were  willing  to  play  it  to  the  best  of  their  ability. 


134  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Ambulance  drivers,  orderlies,  nurses  and  doctors — the  story 
is  the  same  from  beginning  to  end.  Every  last  one  in  the 
service  vindicated  the  faith  placed  in  him  by  his  country  and 
by  his  commanding  officers.  They  showed  the  true  spirit  of 
America,  that  spirit  before  which  nothing  but  the  clear,  bright 
flame  of  freedom  and  democracy  can  hope  to  stand. 

The  Red  Cross  lived  up  to  its  highest  traditions  also.  They 
had  a  recreation  building  for  convalescent  Base  Hospital 
patients  right  beside  the  hospital,  and  that  building  was  turned 
over  to  the  forces  that  were  fighting  the  plague.  The  Red 
Cross  also  supplied  much  medical  material  to  the  military  au- 
thorities, and  the  workers  were  devoting  themselves  day  and 
night  to  the  sick  men  and  to  the  relatives  of  those  men  who 
were  hurrying  toward  Devens  from  almost  every  state  in 
the  Union. 

The  Knights  of  Columbus  turned  their  Base  Hospital 
building  over  to  the  military  authorities  for  the  housing  of 
sick  men  and  they  devoted  another  building  to  the  use  of 
relatives  of  the  men,  housing  them  there  during  the  crisis  of 
their  boys. 

The  Hostess  House,  which  was  early  established  at  Camp 
Devens  by  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  and  was 
under  the  supervision  of  Miss  Annette  Griggs,  became  a  large 
dormitory  for  the  accommodation  of  people  whose  loved  ones 
were  facing  the  Hereafter  up  at  the  hospital,  and  the  Hostess 
House  also  ran  a  motor  bus  to  the  hospital  for  the  benefit  of 
fathers  and  mothers  of  sick  boys. 

It  was  the  same  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  as  with  all  the  rest  of 
the  welfare  organizations.  Their  Base  Hospital  hut  became  a 
ward,  and  the  secretaries  devoted  themselves  to  the  sick  and 
dying. 

Perhaps  no  one  worked  any  harder  than  did  the  chaplains. 
These  big-hearted  men  practically  lived  in  the  wards,  comfort- 
ing the  dying,  writing  letters  for  the  men,  guiding  frantic 
parents  through  the  lines  of  cots  in  the  hospital,  which  filled 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  135 

even  the  corridors,  and  doing  a  thousand  and  one  things  to  be 
of  assistance. 

For  the  chaplains  in  this  army  that  we  raised  were  general 
utility  men,  friends  of  the  soldiers  who  could  be  called  on  for 
anything  that  might  come  up  where  an  outside  and  disinter- 
ested party  was  necessary.  They  did  everything  from  per- 
forming marriage  ceremonies  to  judging  a  broncho-breaking 
contest,  from  writing  musical  comedies  for  the  men  to  act  to 
refereeing  basketball  and  baseball  games.  There  were  no 
better  loved  men  at  Camp  Devens  than  the  "sky  pilots." 

And  perhaps  right  here  may  be  mentioned  what  was  con- 
sidered by  many  one  of  the  crowning  achievements  of  one  of 
these  soldier  parsons,  though  chronologically  it  is  a  little  out 
of  place  in  this  narrative.  After  their  long  battle  with  the 
influenza,  on  top  of  their  intensive  training,  which  was  halted 
by  the  coming  of  peace,  the  regiments  of  the  12th  Division 
vied  with  each  other  for  supremacy  in  sports,  drills,  music, 
education,  all  kinds  of  contests,  and  finally  in  the  matter  of 
dramatics. 

The  writer  of  this  story  is  not  sufficiently  versed  in  the  fine 
points  of  drama  and  music  to  dare  to  name  the  leading  regi- 
ment of  the  division  in  the  histrionic  field,  but  certainly  no 
chronicle  of  the  events  at  Camp  Devens  would  be  complete 
without  mentioning  the  final  big  show  of  the  73d  Infantry. 

The  74th  Infantry  produced  a  revue  in  the  fall  of  191 8  that 
created  a  sensation  in  camp.  It  was  shown  at  the  Liberty 
Theater,  and  was  a  huge  success,  as  there  was  plenty  of  talent 
of  all  kinds  in  every  outfit.  Straightway  the  73d  set  out  to  go 
the  74th  one  better,  and  in  this  they  were  most  heartily  sup- 
ported by  their  commanding  officer.  Colonel  James  B.  Kemper. 

The  regiments  had  considerable  funds,  collected  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  men  when  they  got  overseas.  These  had  to  be  dis- 
posed of,  for  the  benefit  of  the  men,  before  demobilization  or 
they  were  to  be  turned  into  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 
So  the  73d  decided  to  spend  some  of  their  money  on  a  "regular 


136  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

show."  One  of  their  chaplains  happened  to  be  a  particularly 
accomplished  man;  apparently  a  sort  of  jack-of -all-trades.  He 
was  Father  John  F.  Conoley,  formerly  of  St.  Augustine,  Florida, 
and,  before  he  left  the  service,  camp  chaplain  at  Devens.  To 
him  fell  the  task  of  writing  a  show  for  the  73d,  and  with  a  will 
he  set  himself  to  do  it. 

On  January  27  and  28,  1919,  "  Cho  Cho  Sin, "  a  musical  tale 
of  the  east,  was  presented  by  one  of  the  finest  amateur  theatri- 
cal companies  ever  seen  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  written  and 
produced  for  General  McCain.  The  men  did  the  work.  They 
built  their  own  scenery,  wrote  much  of  their  own  music. 
Chaplain  Conoley  furnished  the  lines.  Mrs.  Kemper,  wife  of 
the  "K.  O.,"  assisted  by  Mrs.  P.  J.  H.  Farrell  and  Mrs.  E.  H. 
Adams,  provided  the  costumes.  The  spirit  of  the  regiment, 
which  was  to  be  found  in  every  regiment  of  the  12th,  did 
the  rest. 

The  special  music  was  composed  by  Sergeant  George  R. 
Tompkins,  bandmaster  of  the  73d.  The  show  was  produced 
under  the  direction  of  Lieutenants  Charles  A.  Lee  and  C.  F. 
Kirschler.  Sergeant  "Ted"  Stanley  painted  the  scenery  and 
the  posters  for  the  outside  of  the  theater.  The  star  of  the  pro- 
duction was  Private  F.  T.  LeM.  Easter,  before  the  war  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Russian  Ballet,  and  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
actors  to  be  found  in  camp. 

For  two  nights  and  one  matinee  the  show  played  to  packed 
houses.  But  to  the  officers  and  men  in  camp  the  opening  per- 
formance was  the  biggest  and  best  of  all.  For  just  before  the 
curtain  went  up  that  night  the  men  of  the  73d,  through  Chap- 
lain Conoley,  paid  their  own  public  tribute  to  their  command- 
ing general,  who  was  present,  as  he  always  was,  to  see  the 
efforts  of  his  boys,  and  to  applaud  them. 

Just  before  the  lights  were  dimmed  Chaplain  Conoley  ap- 
peared before  the  curtain.  He  raised  his  hand  for  silence,  and 
then  in  a  quiet  but  sincere  voice  told  General  McCain  how 
much  the  men  of  the  12th  Division  thought  of  their  chief.     He 


General  Edwards  and  Governor  McCall  Visit  Devens 


General  Edwards  of  the  Y-D  Saluted  the  Colors  of  the  Plymouth 

Division,  and  Then  Said  He  Understood  Why  the  Germans  Quit: 

"The  I2TH  Was  Coming" 


Colonel  Byroade,  Lieutenant  Parker,  General  McCain  and  Major 
Hitchcock  and  the  Colors  of  the  Plymouth  (i2th)  Division 


Pholo  by  A.  L.  Belcher,  Globe 

Major  Barratt  O'Hara  Appeals  for  Support  of  the  Liberty  Loan 

Left  to  right:     Major  O'Hara,  General  McCain,  Colonel  Lott, 

Colonel  Adams,  Captain  Cape 


The  Aviators  Were  About  the  Only  Ones  Who  Looked  Down  on 
Division  Headquarters 


Captain  Livingston  Swextzel,  Observer,  and  Lieutenant  "Rube" 

Moffat,  Pilot,  in  One  of  the  Airplanes  That  Were 

Stationed  at  Devens 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  137 

voiced,  also,  what  the  men  of  the  division  had  felt  throughout 
their  service,  though  few  were  able  to  express  it  in  words. 
Chaplain  Conoley  said : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen — It  gives  us  great  happiness  to  greet  you — to  have 
you  as  our  guests  this  evening  while  we  turn  from  the  sterner  duties 
that  are  incumbent  upon  us  to  frolic  and  play  for  your  entertainment. 
And  we  are,  indeed,  happy  that  you  are  here  to  help  us  pay  tribute  to 
one  who  holds  our  admiration,  our  respect,  and  our  affectionate  esteem. 
And  since  this  is  his  play,  in  that  it  was  planned,  evolved,  and  produced 
in  his  honor,  I  am  sure  you  will  all  pardon  me  if  I  address  myself  directly 
to  General  McCain. 

Sir — I  trust  you  will  accept  this  small  effort  made  by  the  men  of  the  73d 
as  a  proof  of  the  affection  we  all  have  for  you.  We  came  to  this  camp  and 
into  this  Plymouth  Division  very  raw  material — poor  soldiers.  But  we  all 
brought  with  us  the  determination  to  lay  upon  the  altar  of  possible  sacrifice 
that  which  all  men  hold  most  dear — our  lives.  Day  after  day  we  were 
trained  in  the  ways  of  war  under  your  guidance  and  direction;  day  after 
day  we  felt  the  small  things  of  life  fall  away  from  us,  felt  the  urge  of  that 
manliness  and  generosity  that  is  characteristic  of  the  trained  and  disciplined 
soldier,  realized  our  own  deficiencies,  and  did  what  I  think  we  can  truthfully 
call  our  honest  best  to  measure  up  to  the  standard  that  was  set  for  us  higher 
up.  The  result  has  been  that  every  man  of  us  is  leaving  the  division  with  a 
bigger,  broader  mind  and  heart,  motived  to  the  bigger  things  of  life  by 
discipline  and  devotion  to  duty  actuated  by  principle.  The  things  we  have 
learned  here  will  influence  our  very  thought  in  after  days,  make  us  better 
men,  and  give  the  Nation  nobler,  better,  citizens. 

Example,  Sir,  is  the  most  potent  factor  in  life — we  pattern  ourselves, 
almost  unconsciously,  after  those  who  command  our  respect  and  esteem. 
And  your  share  in  our  life  here  was  a  powerful  incentive  to  greater  develop- 
ment because  we  knew  well  that  nothing  in  the  way  of  sacrifice  or  devotion 
to  duty  was  asked  of  us  that  was  not  first  done  at  Division  Headquarters  by 
the  commanding  general. 

We  are  proud  to  have  it  said  of  us  that  we  are  "  McCain's  men  of  the  12th." 
We  are  sorry  beyond  words  that  we  had  no  opportunity  to  express  in  vivid 
action  our  real  devotion  to  your  person.  And,  since  we  are  so  soon  to  be 
separated,  we  felt  that  we  must  do  some  little  thing  that  would  in  some  small 
way  tell  you  of  our  regard.     This  evening's  play  is  the  result. 

Sir,  this  is  all  a  tribute  to  you !  These  men  have  worked  night  and  day 
for  a  week — sometimes  all  night — in  order  to  greet  you  here  with  this  per- 
formance. When  the  news  came  of  our  departure,  the  cast  of  the  play 
declared  its  unwillingness  to  leave  until  we  should  give  this  expression  of  our 


138  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

esteem  for  you.  It  is  the  tribute  of  the  men  of  the  73d  to  their  commanding 
general. 

And  so  we  are  to  take  you  tonight  far  from  military  terms  and  affairs  and 
raise  the  curtain  upon  ancient  Bagdad,  while  girls  dance  and  boys  sing  and 
love  and  comedy  and  tragedy  are  all  portrayed  in  brilliant  costume — 'and  it 
is  all  for  you.  We  thank  you  for  your  share  in  our  lives  here,  for  your  part 
in  the  new  breadth  of  mind  and  heart  that  has  come  to  us  all — a  breadth  of 
thought  that  will  go,  only  God  knows  how  far,  to  make  this  world  a  better 
place  to  live  in.  We  have  learned  the  real  meaning  of  those  magic  words 
"the  service" — and  we  leave  the  army  not  as  men  who  turn  from  a  stern 
and  distasteful  duty  to  more  pleasant  tasks,  but  as  men  who  are  better  men 
from  having  lived  for  a  time  heart  to  heart  with  those  exponents  of  service 
and  devotion  to  duty  who  make  up  the  armed  service  of  these  United  States. 

As  the  play  proceeds  and  you  are  amused,  let  this  thought  attend  you 
— that  every  word  of  the  play,  every  stick  of  the  scenery,  every  bit  of  cos- 
tume, is  a  material  proof  of  the  affection  we  have  for  you — the  commanding 
general  of  the  12th  Division. 

That  expressed  it.  The  spirit  was  there.  Everybody  saw 
it.  And  it  was  such  doctrines  as  this  that  the  army  chaplains 
at  Camp  Devens  sought  to  instill  into  the  men — the  strong, 
manly  doctrines  of  real  Americans.  They  all  helped,  every 
last  parson.  Perhaps  that  was  one  of  the  reasons  why  the 
chaplains  of  the  12th  Division  were  so  popular. 


Chapter  XVI 
THE  12TH  DIVISION  BREAKS  SOME  RECORDS 

On  September  22  General  McCain  sent  out  a  request  through 
the  camp  for  an  appropriate  name  for  the  12th  Division. 
Every  officer  and  man  was  invited  to  suggest  one,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  request,  should  be  short,  snappy  and  appropriate. 

There  were  some  interesting  suggestions  made,  of  course. 
There  couldn't  help  being,  with  30,000  brains  conjuring  up  all 
kinds  of  queer  and  ludicrous  names  for  the  outfit.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  nearly  150  suggestions  were  made.  Among  them  being 
such  names  as  "The  Do  or  Die  Division, "  "The  Hell  Roarers, " 
"The  Midnight  Division,"  "The  Terrible  Twelfth,"  "The 
Dirty  Dozen,"  etc.  Perhaps  none  caused  more  mirth,  how- 
ever, than  the  suggestion  that  the  12th  Division  go  across  under 
the  name  of  "McCain's  Dutch  Cleansers." 

But  it  was  General  McCain  who  finally  named  the  outfit, 
though  the  name  he  chose  was  suggested  by  several  others,  also. 
He  decided  to  call  it  "The  Plymouth  Division,"  inasmuch  as 
the  division  was  training  in  the  Pilgrim  country  and  the  name 
was  so  typically  American.  The  selection  pleased  every  one, 
and  from  the  time  it  was  made  until  the  big  fighting  machine 
passed  out  of  existence  the  name  was  used  even  more  than  the 
official  designation. 

At  the  same  time  an  official  insignia  was  designed  at  the  order 
of  General  McCain.  Captain  Henry  Cape,  Jr.,  the  general's 
senior  aid,  had  much  to  do  with  making  the  design.  It  con- 
sisted of  a  bayonet  running  through  the  figures  12,  the  com- 
bination being  superimposed  on  a  diamond-shaped  background 
with  two  stars.     It  was  both  artistic  and  significant. 

Devens,  from  the  time  General  McCain  took  command, 
seemed  always  to  be  the  cantonment  picked  out  for  any  new 

139 


140  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

experiment.  And  usually  the  experiment  worked.  It  was  so 
with  the  first  Noncommissioned  Officers'  Training  School  to  be 
established  in  the  whole  United  States  Army — a  place  where 
likely  men  could  be  sent,  and  after  a  few  weeks'  training  be 
qualified  to  take  up  the  important  duties  of  a  noncommissioned 
officer. 

For  a  good  noncom.  is  even  as  a  pearl  without  price.  Usually 
they  graduate  from  the  school  of  years  of  experience.  But 
there  was  a  crying  need  for  them  in  this  new  army  of  ours,  and 
something  had  to  be  done  about  it.  A  young  man  named 
Major  Edwin  F,  Harding  was  placed  in  command  of  the  school. 
He  selected  20  of  the  best  qualified  men  from  each  company  in 
the  Depot  Brigade,  gathered  together  a  group  of  experienced 
officers  and  started  to  make  ready-to-wear,  100  per  cent 
efficient,  noncommissioned  officers.  And  the  experiment 
worked.  It  worked  so  well  that  had  the  war  gone  on  these 
schools  would  have  been  established  all  over  the  country  at 
the  various  training  camps. 

As  each  experiment  proved  successful  the  entire  cantonment 
seemed  to  glory  in  its  success.  The  spirit  and  team  work  that 
was  evident  so  soon  after  the  formation  of  the  division  grew 
along  with  the  efficiency  of  the  big  machine,  and  every  incident 
big  enough  to  attract  the  attention  of  any  considerable  group 
of  men  in  the  outfit  almost  immediately  aroused  the  interest  of 
the  whole  camp.  It  was  nothing  to  be  surprised  at,  then,  that 
on  the  last  day  of  September,  just  as  retreat  sounded,  about 
every  road  leading  to  the  main  parade  field  was  choked  with 
racing  men  as  two  specks  appeared  in  the  sky  above  the  camp. 
It  was  the  arrival  of  the  two  airplanes  referred  to. 

Like  giant  eagles  they  floated  down  out  of  the  sky,  and  they 
were  forced  to  circle  the  field  several  times  at  a  very  low  alti- 
tude, while  a  squad  of  M.  P.'s  cleared  the  enthusiastic  dough- 
boys off  the  field  in  order  to  give  the  planes  a  chance  to  make 
their  landing  without  endangering  the  lives  of  about  half  of  the 
men  of  the  12th  Division.     As  they  taxied  across  the  field 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  141 

and  finally  came  to  rest  opposite  the  Division  Officers'  Club 
the  men  swarmed  around  them  and  watched  the  aviators 
alight.  The  planes  had  flown  from  Mineola — 225  miles  away 
— in  two  hours  and  ten  minutes. 

Both  planes  were  equipped  with  wireless,  and  it  was  the  use  of 
that  wireless  that  was  to  prove  invaluable  to  the  training.  The 
two  planes  worked  with  the  school  over  the  Still  River  battle- 
fields, reporting  enemy  positions,  directing  the  fire  of  imaginary 
artillery  and  communicating  all  sorts  of  information  to  the 
school  while  the  planes  were  still  high  in  the  air.  This  was  done 
by  having  a  mobile  wireless  station  on  the  battle  grounds.  The 
planes  also  took  pictures  of  "enemy"  positions,  flew  back  to 
camp  wath  the  negatives,  delivered  them  at  the  topographical 
office  where  they  were  developed,  and  one  hour  after  the  pic- 
tures had  been  taken  the  prints  were  in  the  hands  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  school  who  were  still  out  on  the  combat  ranges. 
This  was  all  done  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Michaud  of 
the  French  Army,  a  liaison  expert. 

The  effect  that  can  be  obtained  from  a  brief  period  of  21 
days  of  real  hard  training  was  never  better  shown  than  by  the 
second  review  of  the  12th  Division,  which  was  held  on  October 
5.  Even  to  comparatively  inexperienced  eyes  the  difference  in 
the  appearance  of  the  men  was  positively  amazing.  Officers 
of  the  Depot  Brigade,  who  had  been  at  Camp  Devens  all 
through  the  training  of  the  76th  Division  and  who  watched  it 
grow  and  improve  many,  many  times,  after  having  been 
stripped  of  its  best  men,  remarked  that  the  manner  in  which 
the  Plymouth  Division  picked  up  was  the  most  startling  thing 
they  had  seen  in  their  military  careers. 

And  following  the  second  review  of  the  division  General 
McCain  said  that  even  his  expectations  had  been  surpassed. 
He  said  that  these  reviews  would  be  held  frequently,  not  only 
to  enable  the  staff  to  keep  familiar  with  the  stages  the  training 
had  reached,  but  also  for  the  sake  of  the  men,  for  it  is  an  estab- 
lished fact  that  there  is  no  better  morale  builder  for  troops  in 


142  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

training  than  to  let  them  see  as  often  as  possible  the  improve- 
ment in  themselves. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  recount  step  by  step  the  training  of  the 
Plymouth  Division.  They  covered  every  bit  of  ground  cov- 
ered by  the  76th,  and  in  fifteen  weeks  trained  to  a  point  where 
they  were  ready  for  overseas  service.  It  was  the  quickest 
trained  division  New  England  ever  turned  out,  and,  according 
to  the  reports  made  by  high  foreign  officers,  it  was  one  of  the 
six  best  divisions  in  the  whole  United  States  Army. 

Of  course  this  did  not  mean  that  when  the  armistice  was 
signed  the  12th  Division  was  ready  to  take  its  place  in  the 
battle  lines.  It  meant  that  the  division  had  completed  its  pre- 
liminary training  and  was  ready  for  transport  to  France,  where 
it  would  enter  on  the  last  stage  of  its  training,  when  the  Infan- 
try Brigades  would  hook  up  with  the  Artillery  Brigade,  and  the 
two  arms  would  tear  through  a  final  training  that  would  send 
them  up  to  the  fighting  front  right  on  the  crest  of  their  highest 
point  of  efficiency  and  morale.  This  was  the  plan,  apparently, 
and  the  12th  was  one  of  nearly  a  dozen  divisions  so  trained. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  officers  from  the  Inspector  General's 
Department  in  Washington  had  completed  their  inspection  of 
the  division  just  prior  to  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  No  one  is 
supposed  to  know  what  the  inspectors  think  of  an  outfit,  but 
on  the  day  these  officers  left  Camp  Devens  having  dictated 
their  report  on  the  division  and  sent  it  to  Washington  by  tele- 
graph, it  was  whispered  that  the  report  was  one  of  the  most 
enthusiastic  that  was  ever  made  during  the  war  on  any  division. 

Everybody  around  camp  knew  they  were  going.  The  offi- 
cers were  buying  their  overseas  equipment.  (Many  an  officer  of 
the  Plymouth  Division  has  in  his  possession  to  this  day  a  Sam 
Browne  belt  and  overseas  cap  that  he  was  never  privileged  to 
wear,  though  he  had  to  pay  for  it.)  The  baggage  was  being 
packed  and  stenciled.  The  end  of  November  would  probably 
have  seen  the  whole  division  in  France.  Reports  had  been 
received  from  the  Artillery  Brigade  in  the  South  that  it  was 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  143 

in  just  as  fine  shape  as  the  Infantry.     Everybody  was  in  the 
highest  of  spirits. 

Then  came  the  armistice! 

Things  had  been  breaking  fast  in  Europe,  but  few  at  Camp 
Devens  had  had  time  to  notice.  The  AlHes  were  sweeping  for- 
ward in  an  irresistible  wave,  carrying  everything  before  them. 
The  Americans  were  covering  themselves  with  glory  and  driv- 
ing the  Germans  on  and  on,  back  toward  their  own  borders. 
The  Plymouth  Division  was  just  aching  to  get  in  on  it. 

The  advance  school  detachment  of  the  12th  Division,  those 
who  go  on  before  and  pave  the  way  for  the  main  body,  had 
reached  France,  though  they  had  to  turn  right  around  and 
come  back  again.  But  at  least  a  part  of  the  Plymouth  Division 
had  reached  foreign  soil. 

And  even  when  the  armistice  was  signed  it  was  not  at  all 
certain  for  some  time  that  the  12th  Division  wouldn't  go  any- 
way. That  was  their  hope,  and  they  did  not  relax  one  bit  in 
their  training  and  preparations  until  orders  came  for  them  to 
do  so.  On  the  day  the  signing  of  the  armistice  was  announced 
General  McCain  said: 

This  is  the  time  for  cool  heads.  Until  we  receive  orders  to  the  contrary 
we  shall  continue  to  train  just  as  hard  as  though  the  Boche  was  still  to  be 
met.  No  one  can  tell  what  will  develop  on  the  other  side.  No  man  can 
say  what  conditions  will  have  to  be  met  and  dealt  with  in  the  enemy's 
territory.  The  simple  signing  of  an  armistice,  while  hostilities  have  ceased 
and  will  probably  not  be  resumed,  does  not  affect  the  I2th  Division  in  the 
least.  We  shall  carry  on.  There  must  be  no  letting  up  until  orders  to  do 
so  are  received. 

I  have  great  confidence  in  this  Division.  It  is  the  best  any  man  could 
desire  to  command.  I  know  that  these  men  of  mine  are  going  to  see  this 
thing  in  the  proper  light  and  that  they  will  continue  to  prepare,  prepare, 
prepare  until  the  last  crisis  has  been  passed,  just  as  they  would  have  fought, 
fought,  fought  until  the  last  victory  was  won.  That  is  the  spirit  that  per- 
meates the  I2th  Division.     We  shall  carry  on! 

And  the  division  did  carry  on,  right  up  to  the  time  orders 
came  for  demobilization.  There  was  a  gradual  let  down  in  the 
training,  of  course,  but  the  men  were  kept  busy,  just  the  same. 


144  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Those  who  were  in  camp  on  the  night  of  the  signing  of  the 
armistice  saw  something  nobody  had  ever  seen  at  the  canton- 
ment before.  For  despite  the  fact  that  the  men  were  eager  to 
get  across,  there  was  joy  in  the  hearts  of  all.  And  they  cut 
loose  and  showed  it.  The  war  was  over.  Pretty  soon, 
probably,  they  would  have  a  chance  to  get  back  to  their 
homes  and  to  peaceful  civilian  pursuits.  And  so  they  cele- 
brated. There  were  parades  and  there  was  singing  and  shout- 
ing and  general  rejoicing  all  over  camp. 

Boston  newspapers  were  rushed  to  Devens  on  special  trucks 
and  these  were  snatched  up  by  the  men  eagerly.  They  wanted 
to  know  all  about  it.  And  when  they  read  the  brief  dispatches, 
they  began  celebrating  all  over  again.  Another  celebration  was 
going  on  out  at  the  camp  where  the  German  prisoners  were 
confined,  eight  miles  from  the  cantonment  proper.  They 
heard  about  it  too,  and  they  wildly  demonstrated  their  joy  at 
the  defeat  of  their  All  Highest,  though  it  was  really  delight  at 
the  knowledge  that  hostilities  had  ceased,  and  soon  they  would 
be  released  and  allowed  to  go  back  to  their  homes  and  families, 
which  they  had  not  seen  in  four  years. 

The  problem  then  was  how  to  keep  the  Camp  Devens  men 
contented  until  such  time  as  the  vast  war  machine  could  be 
thrown  into  reverse  and  could  be  started  unmaking  the  army 
it  had  taken  all  these  months  to  make.  Obviously  it  would  be 
childish  to  make  men  go  on  with  intensive  training  when  they 
knew  that  they  would  not  be  likely  ever  to  have  a  chance  to 
put  that  training  into  practice.  But  they  must  be  kept  busy, 
for  idleness  breeds  discontent. 

Athletics  played  no  small  part  in  keeping  the  men  busy. 
From  the  time  it  was  founded  Camp  Devens  devoted  much 
time  to  sports,  and  some  of  the  finest  teams  in  New  England 
were  gathered  together  in  this  camp  during  the  war.  Athletic 
officers  were  appointed  from  the  very  beginning,  and  to  them 
fell  the  task  of  organizing  and  training  teams  and  arranging 
schedules. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  145 

The  first  athletic  officer  appointed  at  Devens  was  well  known 
throughout  the  country,  Captain  Richard  F.  Nelligan,  who  was 
appointed  to  direct  the  athletics  of  the  entire  cantonment. 
Lieutenant  Robert  C.  Deming  was  athletic  officer  for  the  76th 
Division,  and  with  the  departure  of  that  unit  Captain  F.  S. 
Mathewson  became  athletic  officer  for  the  entire  camp.  On 
the  appointment  of  Captain  Charles  Coolidge  to  the  post  of 
camp  athletic  director,  Captain  Mathewson  became  athletic 
officer  of  the  Depot  Brigade. 

Throughout  the  entire  training  of  troops  at  Devens  inter- 
regimental  competitions  in  baseball,  basketball,  soccer,  boxing, 
volley  ball,  football,  and  all  the  other  favorite  sports  of  Ameri- 
can young  manhood  formed  a  large  part  of  the  men's  amuse- 
ments. Four  baseball  leagues  were  formed  in  the  Depot  Bri- 
gade— the  National,  American,  Southern  and  Federal — and 
twilight  baseball  games  were  played  every  night  during  the 
season. 

Boxing  matches  in  which  professionals  from  outside  the 
camp  were  pitted  against  soldiers  were  held  in  the  Y  auditorium 
every  Thursday  night,  and  these  fights  never  failed  to  draw 
big  crowds.  Then,  too,  boxing  was  taught  the  men  as  part  of 
their  military  training,  and  a  boxing  tournament  in  which 
every  man  in  the  cantonment  was  to  participate  was  arranged. 

The  football  championship  of  the  Depot  Brigade  for  the 
season  of  191 8  was  won  by  the  nth  Battalion  after  one  of  the 
bitterest  fights  ever  witnessed  on  any  gridiron  in  camp,  and 
there  were  many.  After  playing  two  no  score  games  with  the 
5th  Battalion  for  the  championship,  the  nth  Battalion  carried 
off  the  honor  by  a  score  of  19  to  o.  The  victory  was  largely  due 
to  Sergeant  Howard  Coughlin,  who  kicked  four  field  goals. 
The  championship  was  won  in  the  presence  of  the  entire  Depot 
Brigade,  and  General  McCain  and  his  staff  were  also  present. 

The  AU-Camp-Devens  team  of  191 8  was  one  of  the  best 
football  teams  in  the  army  and  it  finished  the  season  as  the 
champion  team  of  the  East.     It  defeated  Brown  University, 


146  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

20  to  7;  the  Garden  City  Aviators,  2i  to  o;  the  Harvard  Radio 
School,  lo  to  o;  and  the  Camp  Merritt  team,  13  to  7. 

The  team  included  many  prominent  college  players,  such  as 
Captain  George  Hoban  of  Dartmouth  and  Lehigh;  Sergeant 
Jack  Malone  of  Syracuse;  Lieutenant  Seeley  of  Washington 
and  Lee;  Lieutenant  Cobb  and  Sergeant  Davis  of  University 
of  Maine;  Lieutenant  Robbins  of  Tufts  College;  Lieutenant 
Taylor  of  the  University  of  Texas ;  Captain  Kusche  of  the  New- 
York  A.  C;  Lieutenant  Burke  of  Holy  Cross;  Captain  Jack 
Maguire  (since  deceased)  who  was  a  member  of  the  All-America 
Army  team  for  several  years;  Lieutenant  Mulcahey  of  George- 
town; Lieutenant  McGrath  of  the  University  of  Minnesota; 
Corporal  Thomas  of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  and  Corporal 
Redman  of  Norwich  University. 

So  well  did  the  athletic  ofificers  perform  their  task  that  it  was 
hard  to  find  a  day  or  night  when  some  kind  of  an  athletic  con- 
test was  not  in  progress  in  camp. 

And  so,  gradually,  the  activities  were  shifted  from  intensive 
training  for  active  service  to  training  for  their  return  to  civilian 
life.  And  now  that  they  had  time  to  spare  it  was  decided  to 
give  the  home  folks  an  opportunity  to  see  what  these  men  had 
learned  in  the  few  short  weeks  they  had  been  training,  and  a 
three-day  military  carnival  to  which  all  New  England  was  in- 
vited was  staged  on  November  25,  26  and  27. 

Before  the  carnival  was  held  the  first  orders  on  the  discharge 
of  men  had  come  through,  and  the  program  for  getting  rid  of 
the  soldiers  at  Camp  Devens  could  be  fairly  well  surmised. 
The  first  men  to  go  were  all  "enemy  aliens"  who,  while  in- 
ducted into  the  service,  had  been  shifted  into  the  development 
battalions  and  were  in  reality  just  about  "earning  their  keep" 
there. 


Chapter  XVII 
THE   BEGINNING   OF  THE   END 

On  November  i8  orders  came  from  the  Adjutant-General's 
Office  in  Washington  to  the  effect  that  the  clearing  out  of  Camp 
Devens  would  begin  with  the  Depot  Brigade.  This  organiza- 
tion, consisting  of  thirteen  battalions,  or  52  companies,  was  to 
be  reduced  to  four  battalions.  The  best  men  in  the  brigade 
were  to  be  transferred  to  these  four  battalions  and  the  rest  were 
to  be  discharged  from  the  service.  It  was  then  obvious  that 
the  Depot  Brigade  was  to  be  used  as  a  mill  for  the  discharge  of 
returning  soldiers.  Because  of  the  vast  amount  of  paper  work 
attached  to  such  a  program,  however,  it  was  some  time  before 
demobilization  actually  started. 

It  was  not  until  November  29  that  the  first  men  were 
actually  discharged  from  the  service  under  demobilization  or- 
ders. They  went  out  through  the  same  building  they  had 
entered,  by  the  "  receiving  station  "  in  the  Depot  Brigade,  and 
once  the  authorities  started  sending  them  out  the  work  went 
on  with  a  rush.  Again  Camp  Devens  led  the  way  with  an 
efficient  system  for  discharging  these  men. 

Captain  George  C.  Tait,  the  camp  personnel  adjutant,  sub- 
mitted the  basis  of  the  plan  that  was  finally  adopted,  and  this 
plan  was  improved  upon  and  details  added  until  Camp  Devens 
later  broke  all  records  in  the  American  Army  for  the  daily  dis- 
charge of  troops.  The  men  signed  their  final  statements,  re- 
ceived their  discharges,  drew  their  pay  and  travel  money,  and 
bought  their  railroad  tickets  all  in  one  building,  being  passed 
from  window  to  window  in  a  never-ending  stream.  Lieutenant 
R.  J.  Cotter  had  actual  charge  of  the  discharging  station,  and 
the  machine  worked  as  smooth  as  grease. 

But  this  army  was  not  just  being  thrown  out  into  the  world 

147 


148  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

again,  as  a  big  machine  might  be  "junked."  It  was  being 
taken  apart  piece  by  piece,  each  part  being  labelled  and  laid 
away  for  future  use,  in  case  such  use  was  necessary.  Each 
man  was  physically  examined  when  he  entered  the  service  and 
each  man  was  physically  examined  before  he  left.  His  entire 
record,  up  to  the  last  day  he  was  in  the  army,  was  kept  and 
later  sent  to  Washington,  where  it  still  is,  ready  at  any  moment 
to  be  drawn  out  again  in  case  of  an  emergency.  It  is  much 
easier  to  tear  down  than  it  is  to  build  up;  that  is,  as  a  general 
rule.  But  in  this  case  the  tearing  down  was  almost  as  big  a 
job  as  the  building. 

These  men,  who  had  come  into  the  army  singing  and  shout- 
ing and  ready  for  anything,  went  out  just  the  same  way.  The 
experience  had  broadened  out  the  country  boy.  It  had  made 
the  city  lad  a  little  more  tolerant.  There  isn't  much  doubt 
that — though  many  didn't  like  cantonment  life  very  well — it 
made  them  just  a  little  bit  better  citizens  than  they  would  have 
been  otherwise.  And  so,  as  they  came  in,  they  went  out  with 
a  song  on  their  lips  and  in  their  souls;  conscious,  whether  they 
had  been  across  and  met  the  enemy  face  to  face  or  not,  that 
they  had  "done  their  bit." 

The  breaking  up  of  the  Plymouth  Division  started  before  the 
orders  to  demobilize  that  unit  were  issued.  It  started  on  the 
first  day  of  December,  when  orders  were  received  to  send 
the  42d  Infantry  to  Camp  Upton,  at  Yaphank,  Long  Island, 
New  York.     They  were  ordered  there  for  duty  as  guards. 

The  order  came  unexpectedly,  but  General  McCain  resolved 
that  before  the  parting  came  the  division  should  be  gathered 
together  at  least  once  more.  And  it  was  gathered  together, 
gathered  in  the  most  unusual  way  ever  heard  of  at  Camp 
Devens.  The  general  found,  some  distance  away  from  the 
camp,  a  natural  amphitheater,  a  bowl  between  several  New 
England  hills.  This  he  had  cleared  of  all  trees  and  under- 
brush, so  that  men  could  be  massed  in  it.  It  was  here  that  he 
had  decided  to  say  farewell  to  his  command,  this  wonderful 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  149 

fighting  machine  he  had  constructed  and  had  learned  to  love 
so  much. 

On  December  3,  the  20,000  men  of  the  Plymouth  Division  at 
Camp  Devens  marched  across  country  to  this  bowl,  and  regi- 
ment by  regiment,  battalion  by  battalion  and  company  by 
company,  were  poured  into  it.  They  just  about  filled  it  to  the 
brim.  In  the  exact  center  of  the  bowl  a  huge  staging  had  been 
erected.  When,  after  two  hours,  the  division  was  finally  ar- 
ranged, a  picture  of  the  entire  20,000  was  taken,  a  picture  so 
large  and  with  every  face  so  clear  that,  with  the  assistance  of  a 
small  reading  glass,  it  was  possible  to  pick  out  almost  every 
officer  and  man  in  it.  It  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of 
photographs. 

And  to  any  one  who  happened  to  be  present  it  was  a  picture 
that  scarcely  needed  to  be  recorded  by  camera  for  it  will  re- 
main indelibly  printed  in  his  memory.  From  the  bottom  of 
the  bowl,  clear  to  the  top,  banked  solid,  were  khaki-clad  men. 
At  the  top,  silhouetted  against  a  gray  sky,  were  the  horsemen 
of  the  military  police,  together  with  the  regimental  and  Na- 
tional colors.  Down  in  front,  headed  by  Bandmaster  Modeste 
Alloo,  director  of  camp  music,  were  the  massed  bands  of  the 
division,  some  250  pieces.  Just  in  front  of  them  was  Major- 
General  McCain,  the  two  brigadier-generals  and  the  head- 
quarters staff. 

Then  came  one  of  the  most  truly  remarkable  and  thrilling 
moments  in  the  history  of  the  division.  The  general  turned 
and  faced  his  men.  A  trumpet  shrilled  piercingly  clear,  calling 
the  entire  command  to  attention.  The  sky  was  gray  and 
overcast — a  dull  day.  Bandmaster  Alloo  raised  his  baton.  1 1 
descended  with  a  sweep  and  that  wonderful  band  crashed  into 
"The  Star  Spangled  Banner."  With  the  first  note  of  the 
National  anthem  the  sun  burst  through  the  clouds  in  all  its 
glory,  flooding  the  bowl  with  its  brilliance  and  causing  the 
silken  flags  along  the  hilltop  to  flash  out  in  a  blaze  of  color  al- 
most blinding. 


I50  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

The  entire  division  was  standing  at  salute.  The  mighty 
voice  of  the  band  carried  the  anthem  right  through  to  the  end, 
while  tears  rolled  down  the  cheeks  of  many  an  officer  and  man 
who  had  come  almost  to  worship  this  great  big  human  machine. 
They  would  never  be  together  like  this  again!  This  was  the 
last  time!     In  a  few  moments  it  would  all  be  over! 

As  the  last  note  died  awayand  20,000  arms  dropped  to  20,000 
sides,  General  McCain  stepped  forward.  His  heart  was  pretty 
full.  His  voice  was  a  little  husky  with  emotion.  He  had  to 
say  goodbye.  He  was  saying  farewell  to  the  division  he  had 
organized  and  trained  and  watched  and  cared  for  and  loved. 
It  was  hard.  He  didn't  try  to  orate.  He  just  talked  to 
his  boys.     And  he  didn't  talk  long. 

This  is  probably  the  last  time  the  division  will  be  together.  You  have 
performed  your  duties  like  Americans,  like  the  real  soldiers  you  are.  But 
even  now  you  should  hold  yourselves  in  readiness  and  not  be  caught  unpre- 
pared. No  one  can  say  what  important  work  you  may  be  called  upon  to 
undertake  before  the  task  of  America  is  finally  completed. 

But  whether  you  are  asked  to  perform  further  service  or  whether  you  go 
to  your  homes  I  want  you  always  to  keep  in  your  hearts  the  lessons  you 
have  learned  in  the  army,  to  keep  clean  bodies,  clean  minds  and  never  relin- 
quish your  high  sense  of  loyalty  to  our  Government. 

That  was  about  all,  and  when  he  stopped  speaking  a  cheer 
went  up  that  fairly  rocked  the  countryside.  Hats  went  into 
the  air,  thousands  of  them.  It  was  a  tribute  to  a  great  com- 
mander by  a  great  division.  Then  the  men  marched  back  to 
camp. 

On  the  day  following  the  farewell  the  42d  Infantry  was  the 
guest  of  honor  of  the  entire  camp.  All  duty  was  suspended 
after  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  Colonel  Kemper  led  his 
73d  Infantry  down  the  main  parade  field  in  one  of  the  snap- 
piest regimental  reviews  that  had  been  seen  in  some  time.  It 
was  for  the  benefit  of  the  departing  42d,  and  following  the  re- 
view there  was  a  reception  by  the  officers  of  the  rest  of  the  can- 
tonment to  the  officers  of  the  42d.  While  this  reception  was 
going  on  the  horses  and  mules  and  heavy  baggage  of  the  42d 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  151 

were  being  loaded  preparatory  to  the  departure  of  the  regiment 
on  the  morrow. 

On  the  same  day  that  the  426.  departed,  the  first  detach- 
ment of  wounded  New  England  men  arrived  at  Camp  Devens 
to  finish  the  convalescent  period  and  for  eventual  discharge. 
They  were  almost  entirely  Yankee  Division  men,  41  of  them, 
and  they  were  as  glad  to  reach  Camp  Devens  as  the  men  of  the 
42d  were  sorry  to  leave. 

These  wounded  men  were  only  the  vanguard  of  thousands 
that  were  to  pour  in  on  Devens.  A  convalescent  center  was 
established  in  the  Depot  Brigade,  and  when  a  hospital  train 
loaded  with  wounded  arrived  at  Devens  from  hospitals  and 
ports  of  debarkation  to  the  South,  the  men  were  all  taken  to 
the  Base  Hospital  first,  where  they  were  examined  by  surgeons. 
Those  who  were  physically  fit  to  stand  it  were  assigned  to  the 
Convalescent  Center  and  those  who  needed  still  further  treat- 
ment were  kept  at  the  Base  Hospital,  being  transferred  to  the 
Convalescent  Center  just  as  soon  as  their  physical  condition 
warranted  it.  And  as  soon  as  they  were  fit  for  discharge  they 
were  sent  back  to  civilian  life. 

More  wounded  men  arrived  on  the  day  following:  43  more, 
and  word  was  also  received  to  the  effect  that  Camp  Devens  had 
been  selected  as  one  of  the  military  cantonments  through  which 
thousands  of  men  would  pass  on  their  way  from  the  battlefields 
of  France  to  civilian  life.  It  was  to  be  a  demobilization  camp, 
and  one  of  the  first  outfits  that  would  be  sent  there  for  demo- 
bilization was  the  United  States  Guards  who  had  been  on  duty 
at  bridges  and  munition  plants  throughout  New  England. 
These  United  States  Guards  were  made  up  of  men  who  had 
been  found  fit  for  domestic  service  only. 

Steps  were  immediately  started,  when  it  was  learned  that 
Devens  was  to  function  as  a  demobilization  center,  to  provide 
employment  for  the  thousands  of  men  destined  to  pass  through 
the  camp.  An  employment  organization  covering  the  entire 
country  established  offices  at  Camp  Devens.     The  whole  camp 


152  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

was  "posted"  with  placards  telling  what  there  was  in  the  way 
of  jobs,  or  where  the  men  could  find  out  about  these  jobs,  and 
folks  settled  down  to  the  task  of  providing  the  returning  men 
with  positions  to  go  to  as  soon  as  they  shed  the  uniform. 
Thousands  of  men  left  camp  with  jobs  to  go  to  as  soon  as  they 
reached  their  home  cities  or  towns,  and  in  many  instances  these 
jobs  were  better  than  the  ones  they  had  filled  before  the  war. 
The  welfare  organizations  assisted  whole-heartedly  in  this 
work  and  the  Knights  of  Columbus  ran  an  employment  bureau 
for  months  after  the  biggest  part  of  the  demobilization  job  was 
over. 

On  December  1 1  New  England  had  the  first  opportunity  to 
give  returning  soldiers  their  first  greeting  from  the  home  land 
as  they  arrived  from  abroad.  The  transport  Canopic  docked 
at  Boston  with  1,120  officers  and  men,  largely  Air  Service  men, 
who  had  been  on  duty  in  England  with  big  Handley-Paige 
night  bombing  planes.  Some  of  them  had  seen  France,  but  the 
greater  part  of  them  hadn't.  They  arrived  in  the  teeth  of  a 
blinding  snowstorm,  and  though  but  few  of  them  were  from 
New  England  they  received  a  welcome  that  almost  swept  them 
off  their  feet.  The  trains  on  which  they  came  from  Boston  to 
Devens  passed  through  what  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a 
single  long  alley  of  shouting,  cheering,  singing,  weeping  men, 
women  and  children,  while  the  city,  town  and  village  whistles 
tooted  and  shrieked  a  welcome,  and  flags  flew  on  every  hand. 

At  Devens  they  were  met  at  the  train  by  guides  and  motor 
trucks  for  their  baggage,  and  they  were  led  through  the  maze 
of  streets  and  barracks  to  the  quarters  formerly  occupied  by 
the  42d  Infantry,  where  they  were  at  last  informed  that  they 
were  officially  home.  They  were  tired,  but  more  hungry  than 
tired.  They  were  looking  for  "chow,"  until — some  one  dis- 
covered hot  showers  in  the  building  at  the  rear  of  each  barracks ! 
Fatigue  and  hunger  were  immediately  forgotten  as  the  word  of 
this  find  passed  from  lip  to  lip,  and  there  was  a  young  riot  as 
the  men  rushed  for  that  warm  water,  tearing  off  clothing  at 


Maj.  .\llan  Pope 


Maj.  Ralph  Lowell  Capt.  H.  G.  Chambers 


Capt.  Charles  Coolidge 


Chap.  C.  V.  Smith 


Capt.  R.  S.  Edwards 


Capt.  John  Buckley  Capt.  R.  F.  Nelligan 


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FORGING  THE  SWORD  153 

every  jump.     The  rush  didn't  stop  until  every  Canopic  man 
had  bathed.     Then  they  were  ready  for  food. 

Of  course  they  had  been  given  a  wonderful  reception  and 
everything  possible  had  been  done  for  them  by  the  good  people 
of  Boston  and  central  Massachusetts,  but  it  is  perfectly  safe  to 
say  that  there  was  not  a  single  feature  of  their  welcome  that 
appealed  to  them  or  was  appreciated  by  them  half  as  much  as 
those  showers. 


Chapter   XVIII 

"MOPPING  UP" 

On  December  13 — lucky  13  this  time — the  skeleton  of  the 
old  76th  Division  arrived  back  at  Camp  Devens.  There 
wasn't  much  left  of  it;  in  all  440  men  and  27  officers  of  the 
Headquarters  Troop,  Headquarters  Detachment  and  an  ambu- 
lance company.  They  had  been  brought  home  on  the  trans- 
port Kroonland,  which  docked  at  New  York,  and  they  returned 
to  Camp  Devens  on  a  special  train  from  Camp  Merritt,  New 
Jersey. 

They  were  glad  to  be  back  home,  but  they  were  heartsick 
over  the  fate  of  the  old  division,  which  had  been  so  broken  up 
that  these  men  were  scarcely  able  to  trace  a  single  unit  after  it 
arrived  at  its  training  base  in  France.  After  telling  all  they 
could  about  what  had  happened  to  General  Hodges'  old  out- 
fit they  discussed  their  "tough  luck"  at  some  length,  and  the 
discussion  usually  ended  with  a  gloomy: 

"  Don't  it  beat  Hell  how  the  New  England  outfits  have  got  it 
in  the  neck  in  this  war?" 

These  men  were  mustered  out  of  the  service  on  December  17, 
and  it  is  feared  that  some  left  the  service  with  a  bitter  taste  in 
their  mouths. 

Many  of  the  returning  overseas  men — perhaps  it  would  be 
nearer  the  truth  to  say  "just  about  all" — came  back  to  this 
country  with  "  kicks  "  to  make.  And  apparently  most  of  them 
were  legitimate.  Men  arrived  at  Camp  Devens  who  had  not 
been  paid  for  eight  and  nine  months.  They  hadn't  received 
any  money  for  so  long  that  they  had  just  about  given  up  hope 
of  ever  getting  any.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  the  most  of 
these  were  men  who  had  been  wounded  and  had  spent  months 

154 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  155 

in  hospitals,  though  there  were  plenty  who  had  not  had  this 
painful  experience. 

Relief  came  to  them  as  soon  as  General  McCain  found  out 
about  their  cases.  He  went  down  to  their  quarters  and  inter- 
\newed  them  personally.  When  he  left  he  ordered  the  camp 
disbursing  officer  to  pay  the  men  what  was  due  them  at  once. 
He  didn't  wait  to  wade  through  red  tape  or  even  to  get  author- 
ity from  Washington,  though  he  wired  and  asked  for  authority 
to  pay  them  as  soon  as  he  found  out  about  their  cases.  If  the 
War  Department  had  ruled  that  these  men  should  not  be  paid 
until  their  papers  were  found  or  until  each  individual  case  had 
been  straightened  out  through  military  channels — a  procedure 
that  would  have  taken  weeks — he  would  have  been  held  per- 
sonally responsible  for  the  money  that  was  paid  out.  But  right 
is  right  with  McCain,  and  he  instructed  his  disbursing  officer  to 
pay  each  man  what  that  man  said  was  due  him,  in  turn  requir- 
ing the  man  to  make  affidavit  that  the  amount  he  asked  for  was 
really  due,  and  warning  him  that  he  would  be  liable  to  crim- 
inal prosecution  if  he  intentionally  made  a  false  affidavit. 
There  is  no  record  at  hand  of  any  man  who  thus  tried  to  "jip" 
the  Government,  and  the  men  vindicated  the  trust  placed  in 
them  by  General  McCain.  In  due  time,  of  course,  the  author- 
ization came  through  from  Washington  to  pay  the  men  off  in 
this  way. 

And  as  the  overseas  men  began  to  arrive  Camp  Devens  took 
on  added  interest  for  New  England  folks,  and  they  flocked  to 
the  big  cantonment  every  day,  and  especially  on  Sundays  and 
holidays.  People  who  didn't  know  anybody  there  came  in 
hopes  they  might  find  some  man  who  knew  some  one  they  knew 
and  to  hear  the  boys'  experiences  at  first  hand. 

And  so  the  men  continued  to  pour  into  Camp  Devens  and 
pour  out  again.  They  came  by  twos  and  threes,  by  half-doz- 
ens and  dozens,  by  battalions  and  regiments  and  by  the  trans- 
port-load. It  didn't  make  any  difference  how  fast  they  came, 
apparently.     There  was  always  room  for  them  and  they  were 


156  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

shunted  out  of  the  service  almost  as  quickly  as  they  had  been 
inducted. 

Major  General  Hodges  visited  Camp  Devens  on  December 
26  for  the  first  time  since  he  arrived  back  from  France.  He 
went  first  to  the  Depot  Brigade  with  the  hope  of  finding  some 
of  his  old  command  there,  but  about  all  of  them  had  been  dis- 
charged. He  didn't  say  much  about  how  he  felt  over  what  had 
happened  to  the  76th  Division,  but  he  obviously  regretted  the 
fact  that  the  division  didn't  see  action  as  a  unit.  He  had  noth- 
ing but  the  highest  praise  for  the  men  of  the  old  outfit,  and 
stated  that  they  had  made  good  wherever  they  were  sent.  He 
was  much  interested  in  the  changes  that  had  been  made  in 
the  camp,  and  made  a  tour  all  over  it  as  the  guest  of  General 
McCain. 

That  part  of  the  Plymouth  Division  which  saw  foreign  serv- 
ice arrived  back  at  Devens  on  December  27.  There  were  82 
men  and  77  officers  in  the  party,  and  immediately  on  arrival 
at  camp  they  were  sent  back  to  their  old  units.  They  went 
first  to  England,  where  they  remained  in  camp  a  few  days,  and 
then  to  France,  soon  being  sent  to  a  school  at  Chaumont.  They 
had  attended  the  school  only  half  a  day  when  the  armistice 
came  and  they  were  ordered  back  to  this  country.  They 
didn't  have  much  to  do,  but  the  fact  that  they  went  Over 
showed  how  near  the  12th  Division  was  ready  to  go. 

Demobilization  orders  for  the  12th  Division  arrived  just  in 
time  to  kill  one  of  the  biggest  experiments  ever  tried  in  the 
United  States  Army.  For  two  months,  following  the  signing 
of  the  armistice.  General  McCain  had  been  working  out  a  plan 
whereby  the  men  of  his  division  might  go  back  to  civilian  life 
better  prepared  to  shake  a  living  out  of  the  world  than  when 
they  entered  the  service.  It  has  long  been  the  contention 
that,  while  a  man  may  learn  something  in  the  navy  that  will  be 
of  use  to  him  on  his  return  to  civilian  pursuits,  the  army  offers 
little,  except  a  chance  to  improve  his  physical  condition.  It 
was  to  alter  this  that  General  McCain  proposed  to  try  his 
new  experiment. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  157 

With  the  assistance  of  prominent  educational  leaders  in  New 
England,  he  formed  what  was  known  as  the  Camp  Devens 
Institute,  an  institution  for  the  enlisted  men,  where  they  could 
get,  absolutely  free  of  charge,  instruction  in  almost  any  trade 
or  profession  or  subject  that  they  might  elect  to  study.  In- 
structors from  civilian  life  and  also  from  the  army  offered  their 
services  and  classes  were  just  about  ready  to  start — with  hun- 
dreds of  men  eager  to  attend,  for  the  idea  found  instant  favor 
with  them — in  almost  everything  imaginable  from  plumbing  to 
astronomy.  Then,  on  January  7,  orders  came  through  from 
Washington  to  start  the  demobilization  of  the  12th  Division, 
and  the  whole  plan  was  knocked  in  the  head.  The  orders  read 
that  up  to  fifty  per  cent  of  the  strength  of  the  division  on 
November  13,  1918,  just  after  the  armistice,  were  to  be  dis- 
charged immediately,  and  there  was  no  getting  away  from  it. 
The  men  had  to  go,  many  of  them  reluctantly  giving  up  this 
opportunity  to  better  themselves,  which  would  probably  not 
present  itself  again  for  a  long  time,  at  least. 

Comparatively  soon  after  the  first  demobilization  orders  were 
received,  came  orders  to  let  still  more  men  go,  and  so,  gradually 
toward  the  end,  the  Plymouth  Division,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Regulars  who  were  in  it,  died  out  and  as  a  division  became 
extinct.  It  was  one  of  the  finest  fighting  machines  ever  con- 
structed in  any  country,  and  General  McCain  could  truly  say 
of  his  I2th  Division,  as  Major-General  Clarence  R.  Edwards 
was  proud  to  say  of  his  26th,  " It  was  a  division  with  a  soul," 
and  with  an  unbeatable  spirit  of  burning  patriotism,  from  the 
commander  right  down  to  the  lowliest  private. 

General  McCain  stayed  on  at  Devens  long  after  the  12th 
Division  was  demobilized.  He  remained  as  cantonment  com- 
mander and  devoted  his  efforts  to  building  up  a  demobilization 
machine  that  held  the  record  for  any  camp  in  the  country  on 
daily  discharge.  The  wounded  and  maimed  continued  to  pour 
into  the  Base  Hospital  and  the  Convalescent  Center  as  long  as 
there  were  any  left  overseas  to  come  home.    They  were  coaxed 


158  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

back  to  health  and  strength,  in  so  far  as  it  was  possible  to  do  so, 
at  the  Base  Hospital,  and  many  of  them,  during  their  conva- 
lescent days,  attended  the  classes  conducted  by  the  "  reconstruc- 
tion aids"  in  the  Red  Cross  building,  newly  erected  behind  the 
Base  Hospital  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  wounded  and 
permanently  maimed  man  some  method  of  earning  his  living 
when  he  got  out  of  the  service. 

The  Red  Cross,  perhaps,  did  more  for  the  wounded  men  at 
Camp  Devens  than  any  other  organization,  though  every  single 
society  represented  at  Devens  did  everything  they  possibly 
could.  But  the  Knights  of  Columbus  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and 
the  Jewish  Welfare  Board  and  the  Salvation  Army  and  the 
others  had  their  hands  pretty  full  with  the  well  ones.  The 
Red  Cross  had  a  recreation  building  right  beside  the  Base 
Hospital,  and  to  that  building  many  of  the  wounded  and  sick 
were  able  to  hobble. 

Almost  every  week,  usually  on  a  Friday,  a  delegation  of 
actors  would  come  up  from  Boston  in  the  afternoon  and  give 
these  boys  the  best  they  had  to  offer  from  the  little  stage  in  one 
end  of  the  building.  Fred  Stone  brought  about  half  his  com- 
pany up  there  on  more  than  one  occasion.  Every  member  of 
the  company  "made  up"  and  donned  the  stage  costumes  and 
exerted  himself  or  herself  to  the  utmost  for  the  benefit  of  these 
boys.  And  when  one  part  of  the  company  had  "done  their 
turn"  on  the  stage  they  went  right  over  to  the  hospital  and 
travelled  from  ward  to  ward,  singing  and  laughing  and  chatting 
with  the  men  and  doing  everything  in  their  power  to  make 
painful  hours  shorter  and  brighter  and  help  the  lads  on  their 
way  to  recovery. 

Fred  Stone  nearly  lost  one  of  his  biggest  attractions  the  first 
time  he  brought  his  players  up  to  Camp  Devens.  They  were 
known  as  the  Six  Brown  Brothers,  and  they  all  played  saxo- 
phones. It  was  the  kind  of  music  these  lads  had  ached  for 
through  many  weary  months,  light,  frothy,  "jazzy"  and  full 
of  pep.     It  just  swept  them  off  their  feet.     When  the  sextet 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  159 

finally  got  away  from  the  Red  Cross  building  they  were  as 
breathless  and  perspiring  as  though  they  had  just  broken  all 
records  for  the  mile  run,  but  they  headed  for  the  hospital  just 
the  same,  short  of  breath  but  long  on  spirit. 

They  started  to  play  almost  as  soon  as  they  entered  the  door, 
and  then  they  marched  from  ward  to  ward,  filling  the  squat, 
rambling  building  with  ragtime  that  nearly  cured  half  the  hos- 
pital right  then  and  there.  They  played  and  played  and  played, 
and  still  the  men  begged  for  more,  begged  so  hard  that  the  good- 
hearted  players  could  not  resist,  and  when  Mr.  Stone  and  the 
rest  of  his  company  were  all  changed  and  ready  to  start  back 
for  Boston  and  the  evening  show  the  Six  Brown  Brothers  were 
still  missing.  Finally  Mr.  Stone  himself  had  to  go  and  simply 
drag  them  away,  with  promises  to  come  again,  which  they  did. 

So  it  went  all  through  the  winter,  men  coming  in  almost 
every  day,  transports  landing  in  Boston  laden  with  war-weary 
doughboys  who  were  shipped  immediately  to  camp,  and  spent 
an  uncomfortable  few  hours  going  through  the  delouser,  and 
shifting  from  their  temporary  billets  in  the  "rest  area"  to  their 
permanent  billets  in  the  camp  proper.  But  their  permanent 
billets  were  permanent  in  name  only,  for  they  were  discharged 
or  sent  to  other  cantonments  nearer  their  homes  just  as  fast  as 
they  could  be  handled.  Occasional  lack  of  transportation  tied 
up  General  McCain  and  his  staff  sometimes,  but  for  the  most 
part  the  men  went  through  regularly  and  steadily.  It  was  a 
humdrum  process  for  the  men  who  had  to  do  the  demobilizing, 
but  an  agreeable  one  for  those  being  demobilized. 


Chapter  XIX 
THE  ARRIVAL  OF  THE  Y-D 

With  the  coming  of  spring  there  also  came  the  last  big  event 
at  Camp  Devens — the  arrival  of  the  26th  (Yankee)  Division, 
those  heroic  lads  who  for  more  than  twenty  months  had  trained 
and  fought  and  bled  and  died  in  France.  The  only  division 
New  England  was  allowed  to  put  into  the  fighting  line  as  a 
representative  unit,  and  one  which  upheld  the  highest  tradi- 
tions of  its  home  states.  The  coming  of  these  fighters  was  one 
of  the  most  glorious  days  New  England  and  Camp  Devens 
ever  knew. 

It  v/as  on  April  4  that  the  first  of  them  arrived.  Two  days 
before  Brigadier-General  Charles  H.  Cole,  who  had  come  home 
in  advance  of  the  division,  arrived  at  Devens  and  held  confer- 
ences with  General  McCain  and  other  officers  concerned  in  the 
billeting,  provisioning  and  discharging  of  the  unit,  so  that  when 
the  huge  transport  Mount  Vernon  steamed  majestically  into 
Boston  Harbor  with  5,800  yelling  officers  and  men  on  board  of 
her,  and  Boston  and  the  rest  of  New  England  was  almost  turn- 
ing inside  out  with  joy  over  their  return,  Devens  was  already  . 
to  receive  them. 

That  day  will  go  down  in  history  as  one  of  the  greatest  the 
New  England  States  ever  knew.  Certainly  there  was  never 
such  a  reception  tendered  any  other  body  of  men,  and  nothing 
can  ever  surpass  it  for  spontaneous  joy  and  relief  and  just  plain 
crazy  hilarity.  The  men  stepped  right  from  the  transport  to 
the  trains  and  were  borne  through  more  than  fifty  miles  of 
screaming,  whistling,  weeping,  shouting,  clanging  Massachu- 
setts countryside.  They  almost  ran  a  gauntlet  of  humanity 
right  from  the  transports  to  the  camp,  for  every  town,  city  and 
hamlet  turned  out  to  the  last  man,  woman,  child  and  wiggling 

160 


Colonel  George  C,  Shaw 


Governor  McCall,  General  McCain 

AND  General  Edwards  Proudly 

Watch  the  i2th  Division 


VICTORY 


•Uobliui   '/...liiiii   ,i,i;iii,-        i  I 


[WARISEWED 

ORVT  CALLS  ARE  CANCELED 


The  "GLOBE"  brings 
Glad  Tidings 


Captain  John  F.  Conoley 
Camp  Chaplain 


The  First  Bunch  of  Wounded  Men  to  Arrive  at  Devens;  Shot  to 
Pieces,  but  Happy  to  be  Home 


Photo  by  George  H.  Davis,  Jr.,  Boston  Globe 

Discharged!     The  Last  March  Through  Camp,  and  One  of  the 

Happiest 


Col.  M.  N.  Falls  Lt.-Col.  E.  F.  Harding  Lt.-Col.  Frothingham 


Maj.  Philips.  Se/rs  Chap.  J.  H.  Twitchell  Maj.  Briggs 


Capt.  Vinxent  Chap.  L.  A.  Ramsay  Capt.  Whitman 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  i6i 

cur  dog  to  do  honor  to  these  men  as  they  steamed  by  behind 
shrieking  and  decorated  engines. 

On  their  arrival  at  camp  they  were  marched  right  to  the  rest 
area  across  from  the  quartermaster  storehouses  and  all  around 
the  delousing  plant,  and  there  went  into  temporary  billets, 
which  consisted  largely  of  tents.  Within  thirty  minutes  of  the 
time  the  first  trainload  arrived,  men  were  on  their  way  through 
that  delouser. 

They  weren't  supposed  to  meet  and  greet  their  loved  ones 
until  after  the  deverminizing  process  was  over,  but  it  would 
have  taken  some  force  greater  than  that  of  arms  to  keep  those 
joy-crazed  mothers  and  fathers  and  sisters  and  sweethearts 
back,  and  in  many  cases  husky,  bronzed  young  fighters  were 
swept  right  into  the  arms  of  their  dear  ones  as  they  stepped 
from  the  trains,  cooties  or  no  cooties.  The  cooties  were  about 
the  scarcest  article  to  be  found  on  the  Y-D  men,  but  the  de- 
lousing  had  to  be  gone  through  as  a  precautionary  measure. 

As  soon  as  they  had  been  deloused,  however,  and  came  forth 
from  the  plant,  hot  and  steaming  and  clean,  they  were  shifted 
to  their  permanent  billets  and  were  allowed  to  mingle  with  the 
thousands  of  loyal  New  Englanders  who  flocked  to  camp  to  see 
them.  Leaves  were  given,  too,  for  the  Yankee  Division  was  to 
stay  at  Camp  Devens  for  nearly  a  month  so  as  to  be  able  to 
parade  through  the  streets  of  Boston  as  a  unit  and  show  the 
battle-scarred  ranks  to  the  home  folks. 

On  the  Mount  Vernon  were  the  Division  Headquarters,  with 
Major-General  Harry  C.  Hale,  then  commander  of  the  division; 
the  Headquarters  Troop  and  Military  Police,  the  Headquarters 
of  the  52d  Infantry  Brigade,  the  loist  Engineers  and  the  104th 
Infantry. 

The  transport  America  arrived  on  April  5  with  7,209  ofiicers 
and  men,  including  the  loist  Infantry — the  Boston  Regiment 
— the  Headquarters  of  the  51st  Infantry  Brigade  and  the  103d 
Infantry,  with  Brigadier-General  George  H.  Shelton.  They 
received  a  no  less  hearty  reception. 

12 


1 62  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

The  Agamemnon  came  in  on  April  7  with  the  I02d  Infantry, 
the  loist  Machine  Gun  Battalion  and  part  of  the  loist  Field 
Artillery,  5,214  officers  and  men  in  all. 

The  camp  was  absorbing  them  as  fast  as  they  came,  and  they 
were  going  through  the  delouser  at  a  greater  rate  of  speed  than 
the  most  optimistic  had  hoped  for,  though  the  delousing  plant 
at  Camp  Devens  was  only  a  small  one. 

The  Mongolia  arrived  on  April  10  with  the  51st  Artillery 
Brigade,  some  4,708  officers  and  men  led  by  Brigadier-General 
John  H.  Sherburne.  The  remainder  of  the  division  arrived  on 
the  Patricia  on  April  17,  the  Winifredian  on  April  18  and  the 
battleship  New  Jersey. 

General  Hale  had  established  the  Yankee  Division  Head- 
quarters in  the  building  just  across  Division  Street  from  the 
Cantonment  Headquarters,  and  he  and  his  staff  were  working 
in  the  closest  harmony  with  General  McCain  and  the  canton- 
ment staff.  It  was  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  teamwork  that 
had  ever  been  seen  at  Camp  Devens. 

During  the  wait  for  all  of  the  Yankee  Division  to  get  in  and 
get  deloused  General  Hale  kept  something  doing  every  minute. 
Part  of  the  men  were  away  on  pass  all  the  time,  but  it  was 
arranged  that  every  regiment  in  the  26th  Division  should  give 
a  regimental  parade  on  a  separate  day,  thus  affording  the  home 
folks  an  opportunity  to  see  their  own  particular  lads  go  through 
their  paces,  as  permission  to  send  units  to  their  home  areas  for 
individual  parades  had  been  refused  in  Washington. 

On  April  19,  when  the  10 1st  Infantry  staged  their  parade 
before  a  perfectly  tremendous  gathering,  General  Peyton  C. 
March,  chief  of  the  General  Staff  in  Washington,  arrived  at 
Camp  Devens  for  a  conference  with  General  McCain  and  to 
look  over  Camp  Devens,  which  he  had  never  seen  before.  He 
appeared  on  the  main  parade  field  where  the  loist  Infantry 
was  drawn  up  and  Colonel  Edward  L.  Logan,  commander  of 
the  regiment,  was  presented  to  him.  He  then  made  a  tour  of 
the  cantonment  with  General  McCain  and  departed  that  night. 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  163 

No  one  knew  just  what  his  real  reasons  were  for  coming  there, 
but  they  were  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  inspecting  the 
cantonment  with  a  view  to  buying  it  and  making  of  it  a  per- 
manent military  post. 

And  Camp  Devens  had  its  biggest  day  still  to  come.  It  was 
on  April  22,  when  the  26th  Division  made  its  last  appearance  as 
a  full  division  in  military  formation.  All  New  England  came 
to  the  camp  on  that  day.  At  least  that  was  the  way  it  seemed, 
for  there  was  never  before  nor  since  such  a  crowd  of  humanity 
jammed  together  on  one  comparatively  small  area.  The 
Military  Police,  who  had  the  handling  of  the  crowds,  estimated 
that  there  were  a  quarter  of  a  million  visitors  there,  and  it 
seemed  to  those  who  saw  the  ceremony  that  their  estimate  was 
a  conservative  one. 

Wearing  their  steel  helmets  and  carrying  the  weapons  that 
had  played  so  noble  a  part  in  the  whipping  of  the  Boche,  the 
Yankee  Division  was  drawn  up  on  the  main  parade  field  at  i 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  governors  of  the  six  New  Eng- 
land States  were  there.  So  was  Major-General  Clarence  R. 
Edwards,  organizer  and  trainer  and  commander  of  the  division 
through  the  greater  part  of  its  fighting.  The  division  was  in- 
spected by  these  notables,  while  the  massed  bands  of  the 
division — some  250  pieces — blared  forth  its  stirring  music. 

Then  came  a  ceremony  New  England  had  never  seen  before : 
the  decorating  of  the  colors  of  the  division  units  with  their 
battle  streamers.  These  long  bright  ribbons,  which  were  at- 
tached to  the  staffs  of  the  regimental  flags,  were  awarded  by 
the  War  Department,  and  they  were  inscribed  with  the  differ- 
ent battles  in  which  each  unit  had  taken  part.  The  long  line 
of  colors  moved  forward  to  the  generals,  each  color  escorted  by 
the  commander  of  the  regiment.     It  was  a  gorgeous  spectacle. 

Before  the  final  act  of  this  impressive  drama — the  last 
review — 49  men  received  decorations  for  valor;  48  were  mili- 
tary men  and  the  49th  was  a  civilian,  Michael  Perkins  of 
Boston,  who  received  the  Congressional  Medal  of  Honor  for 


i64  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

his  son,  young  "Micky"  Perkins,  the  bravest  of  the  brave,  who 
gave  his  life  in  France.  Of  the  military  men  who  received  Dis- 
tinguished Service  Crosses  and  several  varieties  of  foreign 
decorations.  General  Edwards  awarded  half  and  General  Hale 
the  other  half. 

Then  came  the  review,  and  more  than  20,000  men  swept 
past  a  cheering  host  of  proud  and  happy  loved  ones  in  the  last 
scricdy  military  maneuver  of  the  26th  Division. 

On  Thursday,  April  24,  seven  long  trains,  bearing  approxi- 
mately half  the  division,  pulled  out  of  Camp  Devens  bound  for 
Boston.  The  division  was  to  parade  there  on  the  25th,  to 
receive  more  plaudits  from  the  home  folks.  Those  who  went 
on  Thursday  had  that  night  in  the  city  and  after  the  parade 
immediately  entrained  for  camp.  The  other  half  of  the  divi- 
sion went  down  on  Friday  morning,  participated  in  the  parade 
and  returned  to  camp  on  Saturday.  This  was  positively  their 
last  appearance,  and  on  April  28  the  demobilization  of  the 
division  began. 

In  two  short  days  Camp  Devens  was  turned  from  a  busy 
city,  seething  with  humanity,  to  what  seemed  in  contrast 
an  almost  deserted  village.  For  Devens  broke  all  records  in 
the  country  in  discharging  the  26th  Division.  The  record  for 
the  number  of  men  discharged  by  any  camp  in  one  day  up  to 
that  time  had  been  about4,ooo.  On  April  28,  General  McCain's 
discharging  force,  under  the  direction  of  Captain  George  C. 
Tait,  camp  personnel  adjutant,  discharged  over  7,000  individual 
soldiers.  These  took  in  the  men  of  the  loist,  103d  and  104th 
Infantry  Regiments.  On  the  29th  they  broke  their  own  record 
by  sending  out  more  than  9,000  men.  It  was  a  feat  as  yet 
unparalleled  in  the  military  history  of  this  country. 


Chapter  XX 
"APR£S   la   GUERRE" 

That  was  really  the  end  of  Camp  Devens.  More  men  con- 
tinued to  come.  They  came  by  the  thousands,  among  them  a 
number  of  famous  New  England  units:  The  14th  (Railway) 
Engineers,  recruited  from  the  ranks  of  New  England  railroad 
men,  and  a  unit  which,  despite  many  handicaps,  made  a  proud 
name  for  itself  and  for  New  England  while  on  the  other  side. 
The  301st  Engineers  of  the  old  76th  Division  also  came  in  as  a 
unit,  after  having  been  a  part  of  the  Army  of  Occupation  in 
Germany  for  some  time. 

But  these  outfits  were  demobilized  and  the  men  discharged 
as  quickly  as  possible,  and  the  passing  of  the  26th  Division 
really  marked  the  end  of  Camp  Devens  as  a  center  for  the  pub- 
lic interest. 

Parts  of  the  32d  Division  arrived  some  time  after  the  26th, 
but  they  consisted  of  Middle  West  National  Guard  units  and 
they  were  sent  out  to  their  own  cantonments  for  discharge 
after  being  deloused  at  Camp  Devens.  The  wounded  contin- 
ued to  come  as  long  as  there  were  any  left  to  be  distributed, 
but  soon  these  ceased  to  arrive,  and  finally  the  Base  Hospital 
ceased  to  exist.  Much  of  the  great  institution  was  closed  up 
and  what  was  kept  open  was  used  as  a  camp  hospital  only. 

As  the  number  of  men  dwindled  and  fewer  and  fewer  came  in 
for  discharge,  the  whole  Depot  Brigade  area  was  closed  as  well 
as  the  area  known  as  the  303d  and  304th  Infantry  barracks. 
Then  the  302d  Infantry  area  was  closed,  leaving  only  the  36th 
Infantry  (the  old  301st  Infantry  area)  occupying  infantry  bar- 
racks. The  artillery  area  was  used  to  house  the  demobiliza- 
tion group  as  long  as  there  was  any  left,  but  as  the  greater 
portion  of  our  men  returned  from  across  the  water,  and  Camp 

165 


i66  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Devens  got  fewer  and  fewer  of  them,  the  demobilization  group 
was  cut  down  until  there  were  only  about  lOO  men  in  it. 
Finally,  as  there  was  less  and  less  for  it  to  do,  the  demobiliza- 
tion group  passed  out  of  existence  altogether,  and  with  its 
passing  Devens  ceased  to  exist  as  a  demobilization  center. 

So,  while  Camp  Devens  sprang  up  almost  over  night  as  re- 
gards population,  it  went  down  gradually,  until  less  than  2,000 
soldiers  were  left  there.  New  England  found  it  hard  to  recon- 
cile the  cantonment  they  had  known  during  the  war  and  the 
demobilization  period  with  what  they  found  there  during  the 
late  summer  and  fall  of  1919.  From  a  vast  area  teeming  with 
life  and  activity,  the  big  camp  seemed  to  sink  into  a  sleepy, 
rather  dreary  looking  expanse  covered  with  weather-beaten 
buildings — and  not  much  else. 

The  thousands  of  buildings  that  housed  the  tens  of  thousands 
of  men  were  not  torn  down.  They  were  just  emptied  and 
closed.  The  equipment  they  contained  was  cared  for  by  the 
salvage  officers,  and  the  water  was  drained  from  the  pipes  to 
prevent  their  utter  destruction  with  the  arrival  of  cold  weather. 
It  was  stated  that  it  was  considered  inadvisable  to  try  and 
dispose  of  any  of  the  buildings  not  in  use,  even  had  the  War 
Department  showed  any  disposition  to  do  so,  because  it  would 
be  a  losing  proposition  for  the  Government  in  that  it  would 
actually  cost  money  to  give  the  lumber  away,  no  contractor 
being  willing,  apparently,  to  tear  down  the  buildings  and  carry 
away  the  material  for  the  value  of  the  material  itself.  It  was 
said  to  be  too  expensive  a  task,  owing  for  one  thing  to  the 
location  of  the  camp. 

So  the  buildings  just  stayed  there,  and  because  there  were 
not  enough  men  stationed  at  Devens  to  do  the  work  on  top  of 
their  regular  duties,  civilian  watchmen  were  hired  to  patrol 
the  abandoned  areas  and  act  as  guards  against  fires,  etc.  Hun- 
dreds of  civilians  had  to  be  employed  in  other  capacities  also, 
in  many  cases  the  men  who  had  been  doing  a  particular  job 
while  in  the  service  taking  their  discharges  and  then  contin- 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  167 

uing  with  the  work  as  civilian  employees  at  considerably  more 
pay  than  the  munificent  army  remuneration  of  $30  per.  Es- 
pecially was  this  true  of  clerks  and  men  who  had  served  in  the 
Quartermaster  Corps. 

Then,  too,  the  labor  battalions,  composed  of  colored  lads 
from  the  South,  went  back  to  the  land  of  sunshine,  cotton  and 
watermelons,  and  there  were  not  enough  men  left  to  do  their 
work.  So,  in  the  early  fall  of  19 19,  a  detachment  of  one  hun- 
dred general  prisoners  was  sent  up  from  New  York  to  finish  out 
their  terms  at  Devens  and  there  to  perform  whatever  labor  was 
required  of  them. 

Many  of  these  chaps — for  the  most  part  pretty  good  scouts 
who  had  simply  been  "out  of  luck"  or  rather  wild  during  their 
service  on  the  other  side — attracted  considerable  attention  from 
New  England  people  on  their  arrival  at  Devens  because  of  the 
disclosures  that  were  then  being  made  regarding  the  cruelties  of 
Lieutenant  "Hard-Boiled"  Smith  to  American  soldiers  who 
came  under  his  jurisdiction  at  Farm  Number  2  near  Paris. 
Some  of  these  prisoners  who  came  to  Devens  had  felt  the  cruel 
and  heavy  hand  of  this  petty  tyrant,  who,  not  content  with 
abusing  the  bodies  of  American  soldiers,  sought  to  crush  their 
spirits  and  if  possible  their  souls.  These  lads  who  came  to 
Devens  told  their  stories  to  the  Boston  Globe  and  the  Globe  told 
them  to  New  England. 

And  at  last  even  these  lads  went  away,  swallowed  up  by 
hungry  cities  and  towns  all  over  the  country.  They  left  at 
least  one  beautiful  piece  of  work  behind  them,  however. 
Everybody  who  served  at  Devens  will  remember  how  bare  of 
grass  and  how  dusty  the  main  parade  field  was,  especially  when 
there  was  a  wind  blowing  and  drills  were  going  on  at  the  same 
time.  Well,  it  isn't  bare  any  more.  It  was  General  McCain's 
idea  to  transform  that  barren  expanse  of  earth  into  a  green, 
velvety  carpet,  and  he  succeeded  in  doing  it.  He  had  the  field 
ploughed  up  and  seeded,  the  prisoners  doing  most  of  the  work, 
and  before  the  cold  weather  descended  on  the  camp  the  main 


i68  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

parade'  field  was  covered  with  light  green,  tender  grass.  In  the 
spring  it  was  seeded  again  and  rolled,  so  that  summer  found 
it  a  great,  deep  green  carpet. 

The  general  also  had  the  ponds  which  were  scattered  over  the 
camp  stocked  with  fish  and  the  entire  reservation  stocked  with 
birds.  This  was  accomplished  through  the  generous  co-opera- 
tion of  the  Massachusetts  Fish  and  Game  Commission.  Then 
every  officer  and  man  in  the  camp  was  made  a  "game  warden, " 
and  they  proved  efficient  ones,  too. 

General  McCain  was  devoting  his  every  effort  to  Devens  and 
the  men  in  it  during  the  less  strenuous  times  of  peace  just  as  he 
did  during  the  busy  days  of  war.  He  waged  extensive  recruit- 
ing campaigns  throughout  New  England  and  brought  hundreds 
of  men  into  the  Regular  service. 

Because  of  his  own  efforts  and  the  assistance  and  co-opera- 
tion of  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  he  had  something  to  offer 
these  men  that  few  if  any  of  the  other  camps  in  the  country  had. 
For  in  the  big  building  near  the  camp  post-office,  which  used  to 
be  the  Camp  Devens  laundry,  there  was  now  the  "Camp  Devens 
Schools,"  an  offspring  of  what  would  have  been  the  Camp 
Devens  Institute  mentioned  in  a  preceding  chapter.  Here  men 
stationed  at  Devens  could  study  almost  any  trade  they  chose, 
entirely  without  cost  to  themselves.  Many  a  man  took  advan- 
tage of  this  opportunity  to  gain  for  himself,  while  serving  in  the 
army,  something  he  could  not  have  received  in  civilian  life 
without  considerable  expense  and  double  the  amount  of  work. 

A  number  of  New  England  fathers  and  mothers  heard  about 
this  school,  wrote  to  the  general  for  particulars  and  later  sent 
their  sons  to  him  for  a  year  of  army  training,  coupled  with  an 
equal  amount  of  trade  training  that  enabled  them  on  their 
return  to  civilian  life  to  jump  into  the  industrial  scrimmage 
several  stages  ahead  of  the  lads  who  were  content  just  to  get  a 
job  on  their  release  from  war  service  and  work  at  it. 

The  general  is  a  firm  believer  in  universal  training,  but  he 
insists  that  some  such  plan  as  this,  where  the  young  men  of  the 


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The  "  Mount  \'ernox"  in  Boston  Harbor  with  Her  Priceless  Cargo: 
Victorious  Doughboys 


"Over  the  Top"  for  the  Last  Time,  and  Into  the  Arms  of  Their  Wait- 
ing Families — Overseas  Men  Returning  to  Devens  for  Discharge 


Dad  Was   Pretty  Darned  Glad 

When  the  Boy  Got  Home 

from  the  War 


And  "Somebody  Else"  Was  Glad 
to  See  "Him,"  Too 


The  Colors  of  the  301ST  Engineers  Coming  Up  to  Dock  at  Boston, 
Just  Back  from  France  and  Germany 


Devens  Had  Its  Own  Railroad  Yard,  Only  a  Part  of  Which  is  Shown 

Here,  but  This  Was  the   First  Glimpse   of  the  Camp 

FOR  Thousands  of  Men  Just  Back  from  France 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  169 

country  will  not  only  be  taught  to  fight  their  Nation's  battles 
but  also  their  own  industrial  battles  in  civilian  life,  must  be 
offered  if  the  universal  training  idea  is  to  be  acceptable  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  This  has  been  General  McCain's 
belief  through  many  years  of  army  experience,  and  he  knows 
well  the  folly  of  asking  and  trying  and  hoping  for  a  sizeable 
volunteer  army  in  times  of  peace  unless  the  army  has  something 
besides  a  small  amount  of  money  each  month  to  offer  the  men 
of  the  country  in  return  for  their  service. 

And  while  on  the  subject  of  what  General  McCain  did  for 
Devens,  for  New  England  and  for  the  country  while  he  com- 
manded Camp  Devens,  it  might  be  well  to  mention  what  the 
members  of  Congress — not  the  War  Department — did  for  him 
in  recognition  of  his  services.  An  honor  was  conferred  on  him 
that  was  not  accorded  any  other  officer  in  the  United  States 
Army. 

On  October  30,  1919,  General  McCain  was  summoned  to 
Washington  by  members  of  both  the  United  States  Senate  and 
the  House  of  Representatives.  In  the  room  of  the  Speaker 
of  the  House,  before  a  delegation  of  members  of  both  Houses 
and  General  McCain's  wife  and  daughter.  Honorable  Champ 
Clark  of  Missouri,  Senator  Chamberlain  of  Oregon  who  was 
chairman  of  the  Senate  Military  Affairs  Committee  during  the 
war,  and  Honorable  "Uncle  Joe"  Cannon,  paid  personal  and 
representative  tribute  to  the  soldier  who  stood  before  them. 
To  "  Uncle  Joe  "  fell  the  honor  of  presenting  to  General  McCain, 
in  the  name  of  the  members  of  both  Houses,  a  beautiful  silver 
pitcher  and  tray  engraved  as  follows: 

Presented  to  Major-General  H.  P.  McCain  by 
His  Admirers  in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives OF  the  Sixty-Fifth  Congress  as  an 
Evidence  of  Their  High  Regard  for  Him  as  a 
Soldier  and  in  Appreciation  of  His  Great  Effi- 
ciency AND  Uniform  Courtesy  While  He  Was  the 
Adjutant-General  of  the  Army. 


170  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

Champ  Clark  declared  that  there  was  not  a  member  of  the 
House  or  of  the  Senate  who  did  not  feel  under  obligation  to 
General  McCain,  and  he  said  that  the  general  was  "one  of  the 
most  efficient  men  who  was  connected  in  any  way,  shape,  form 
or  fashion  with  this  war. " 

Senator  Chamberlain  said  that  when,  on  August  26,  1918, 
General  McCain  was  transferred  from  the  Adjutant-General's 
Department  to  command  a  training  division  there  was  not  a 
man  in  the  Senate  or  in  the  House  who  did  not  feel  a  sense  of 
shock  at  the  change. 

"  I  say  that  without  questioning  the  purpose  of  the  military 
establishment  or  the  efficiency  or  ability  of  General  McCain's 
successor,"  said  Senator  Chamberlain,  "but  here  was  a  man 
who  had  mobilized  the  army  of  the  United  States  for  the  Mex- 
ican Border  and  had  done  it  splendidly;  here  was  a  man  who 
had  been  in  the  Adjutant-General's  Department  from  1900 
until  191 8,  whose  ability  was  conceded  and  acknowledged  by 
everybody,  transferred  in  a  night  to  command  a  division, 
and  everybody  knew  that  that  was  not  his  particular  line 
of  duty. 

"Some  of  us  took  the  liberty  of  going  to  General  McCain — I 
among  the  rest — and  suggesting  that  if  his  friends  could  do  any- 
thing to  keep  him  where  he  was  and  where  he  had  performed 
such  splendid  service,  they  would  be  glad  to  do  it;  but,  like  the 
true  soldier  and  man  he  is,  he  said,  'I  am,  first,  a  soldier,  and 
whatever  command  I  receive  I  obey.' " 

Senator  Chamberlain  went  on  to  say  that  the  secretary  of 
war  and  the  chief  of  staff  both  declared  that  General  McCain 
was  sent  to  train  a  combat  division  "because  they  wanted 
fighting  men  to  train  divisions  and  General  McCain  was  a 
fighting  man." 

"Uncle  Joe"  Cannon  said  that,  while  Mississippi  claimed 
General  McCain,  he  belonged  to  the  whole  United  States. 
And  then,  quietly  but  sincerely,  he  paid  the  following  tribute  tq 
this  soldier  who  had  been  summoned  to  Washington : 


FORGING  THE  SWORD  171 

I  would  rather  have  lived  the  life  General  McCain  has  lived  and  per- 
formed the  service  to  the  Republic  that  he  has  performed  than  to  have  been 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  have  been  a  member  of  the 
Senate  or  to  have  had  a  four-year  term  as  President  of  the  United  States. 

General  McCain,  the  country  appreciates  your  great  service.  History 
will  do  you  full  justice,  but,  after  all — and  I  turn  here  to  Mrs.  McCain  and 
your  daughter — the  Congress  of  the  United  States  and  the  people  of  the 
country'  owe  you  something  now,  because  when  you  are  dead  and  gone  and 
they  are  dead  and  gone,  you  will  be  dead,  and  while  it  is  nice  to  dwell  in 
history  as  you  will,  yet  some  recognition  of  your  great  service,  as  I  say, 
ought  to  be  given  by  the  people  now. 

General  McCain,  in  presenting  you  with  this  testimonial  of  our  apprecia- 
tion we  honor  most  ourselves. 

The  following  day  General  McCain  returned  to  Camp  Dev- 
ens.     In  speaking  about  the  ceremony  in  Washington  he  said: 

"That  is  reward  enough  for  me.  It  means  more  than  I  can 
ever  tell." 

Later  he  was  made  a  companion  in  the  Order  of  St.  Michael 
and  St.  George  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  during  the  latter's  visit 
to  this  country. 

New  England  naturally  rejoiced  with  the  general  as  these 
honors  were  done  him,  for  people  felt  that  in  his  services  being 
so  appreciated  they  were  themselves  honored.  For,  with  the 
exception  of  Major-General  Clarence  R.  Edwards,  who  led  the 
first  New  England  men  to  go  to  France  through  months  of 
death  and  glory,  there  was  no  division  commander  so  respected 
and  loved  by  the  people  of  the  six  New  England  States  as 
Major-General  Henry  P.  McCain. 

So,  with  this  poor  recitation  of  the  qualities  of  the  last  war 
commander  of  Camp  Devens,  let  us  stop.  The  camp  will  live 
for  years  to  come,  literally  as  well  as  in  the  memory  of  those 
who  served  there.  For  the  Government  owns  it  now — about 
3,500  acres  of  it — and  it  is  a  Regular  Army  Post. 

It  was  and  is  a  good  camp;  among  the  best  in  the  country. 
Some  of  the  fellows  who  served  at  other  cantonments  on  this 
side  and  overseas  will  vouch  for  that.     For  its  good  points — the 


172  FORGING  THE  SWORD 

many  respects  in  which  it  was  superior  to  other  American  cat 
tonments — we  have  the  men  who  served  there  to  thank.  The 
are  the  ones  who  made  it  great.  And  as  we  look  back  on  oi 
Devens  days  with  justifiable  pride,  perhaps  it  would  be  just  i 
well  for  us  to  remember  the  fellows  who  would  have  given  the 
right  eye  to  get  overseas,  but  who,  being  denied  this,  stuck  1 
the  job  over  here  and  "carried  on"  for  all  they  were  worth. 


THE  END 


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BOSTON  COLLEGE 


3   9031    027   51548   5 


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998 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 

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